he was late in a strenuous lift when usually the blood in his ears deafened him and he couldnt hear a thing outside of his body

                                     but he snagged a bita line  not the music accompanying it  just the wordsthree words     my  first  glove

Eighteengasping    gaspinggaspingNineteen  gasp   gasping  gasp     Twenty   AahFUCK he groaned

softlydeliberately he laid the weights down  he tried yawning to clear his earsno luck the pitch of pounding blood  he looked up at the clock on the wall the hands read 1:23 (A B C as simple as do re mi one two three thats how easy love can be)whyd he look at the clock  it wasnt like a radio station spun the music live and he could call and they could check their playlist against 1:23 and tell him what he was listening toheard  heard   he didnt listen to the music played over the P A he was too busy shaking blood out of his armshis legstrying to catch his breathrecover just enough to hit the next lifta cardio rhythm he used for more than twenty years when he was able tonot physically compromisedwhen the weights were taken out of his hands

                                              but no matter the reason  he really liked that the time was one two three and he heard my first glove  it made him remember suddenlyremember his first glove a first basemans glove  long  thrashed  oiled to almost black  he could fold it in halfthere was scarcely any padding to it and if he didnt catch the hardball in its webGODdamn it hurt  many afternoons he returned home from the playground and soaked his hand in iced cold water to take the swelling down 

he didnt have a choice

his parents couldnt afford a new glove

elderly neighbors across the street and down the block who tended a fantastic rose garden in their backyard had the glove sitting in their basement  it was their sons glove  he died in World War Two  when they recognised he was a lefthanded boy like their sonthe only lefthanded boy the neighborhood had ever known prior to his family moving into a two-flat with his grandmother they shared the first floor with her  the neighbors watched him and after a time they thought he would take good care of the glove  he obviously needed one for a lefty

when the kids switched out sides those kids who had gloves let theirs to the kids who didnt  all the kids were righties  his glovehand was awkward but he made it work well enough that he was always one of the first kids chosen for a side  a bat toss  whichever captains hand covered the knob chose first      

the neighbors gave it to him through his parents

                                      they said they were sure he would love the glove love it as their son did but they couldnt bring themselves to see the joy in his face personallyitd be like seeing their little boys face  their heartsheartache hadnt mended yet   their boy was their only child  they had him late in life

he became the only neighborhood kid who didnt have to share his glove

he offered

You nuts they said Couldnt make that thing work if I tried

his was the only first basemans glove on the field but he played all the positions with it 

a glove is a glove is a glove

then he learned Ernie Banks played first for the Chicago Cubs and living in Chicago he became a Cubs fan an Ernie Banks fan and the kids teased himcalled him Ol Ern because he identified with Banks skill and enthusiasm

Hes black yaknow the kids said

I dont care he said Nobody plays the game better than him

Then youre black too they said

I dont care if hes green Nobody plays baseball like him

nobody played with his zealhis relish

                               over the ensuing summers when the boys got together to play sandlot ball
the boy who won first pick always picked Ol Ern

1236,  Saturday,  15  7. 17

1300,  Monday,  17  7. 17

Jackson 5  A B C  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho7796-au8U