Getting It Right - June 12 2022

 

Getting It Right

June 12 2022

The umpires gather,

all in black

heads bowed

in a loose collegial circle,

where they confer like a council of jurors

before delivering their verdict

from which there is no appeal.

A hand punches the air

and the runner is out!,

no ifs-ands-or-buts.

They used to be autocrats,

sticking by their call,

asserting the authority

of the man in charge.

Too insecure to risk

any admission of error

or show of weakness.

But now, they're determined to get it right;

to serve justice

and earn our respect

instead of simply expecting it.

Getting it right

more important than looking fallible.

I find this comforting.

In an unfair world

where the rules don't work

or are written to serve the winners

or routinely ignored,

all is well

between the foul lines

on this verdant field

under a clear night sky.

Where grown men

play at being boys.

Instant replay,

like an omniscient god

looking down from on high.

And the partisan fans

who demand justice

and long remember

bad umps.

Getting it right

when all is said and done.

If only life worked that way.

If only right from wrong

was such a clear line.

If only serious men

in black uniforms

policed an unruly world

and knew the rules by heart,

we could return home

happy each night.

Order has been imposed.

The better team won.

And anyway, there will be another game tomorrow.

Which we will watch

with undiminished hope

and no festering grudges.