i’ve begun to hold you again
colorful cardboard portal
young men gripping bats
like no one ever ages

i used to take you for granted
trade you, shove you into
shoe boxes, stacking Tigers
and Orioles, reading statistic
after statistic, the only math
that ever made sense

now with gray hair, you are
mine again, behind plastic
i cradle delicate memory
this time around i know
nothing lasts forever