Poem about the World Series [Karen Zaborowski Duffy]

The following was a poem read tonight on the PBS News Hour:

Poet Karen Zaborowski Duffy has been a high school English teacher for 20 years. She's been a Philadelphia Phillies fan for even longer. Although her beloved team is not in this year's World Series, she shares a poem about being at the event years ago with her daughter.

World Series, Game 5

Even God, I think, is here,

so high up in the stands

with my ten-year old daughter and me

we can almost touch the X

from Schmidty's old home run,

probably the two worst seats at the Vet

but right where the whole world

wants to be.

I let her drink real Coke,

eat Milky Ways and dance with strangers

at 11:30 on a school night and still

ninety minutes from home.

I took her sticky hand.

The Phillies and we are in control.

For now, the world has stopped worrying

about players who might be traded,

moods that might swing and miss.

There are no thoughts about new uniforms

and the boys who will wear them.

Tonight she is here and finds it easy

to love me for this end-of-season

home game.

We are those jumping red dots

in the center of the universe, my daughter

and me and a baseball game

that is perfect and no more meaningless

than anything else.