Ode- Ode to softball

Softball.

neon yellow skin,

blood red stitches.

Like all the blood I have given you.

Fallen on the ground,

but you made me get up and never lose my footing again.

You saved me.

When I had failed myself,

you were always there lying on the ground.

And when I picked you up,

I was home again. 

You appeared when I needed you the most.

Everything felt wrong.

The whole world crumbling beneath me.

But I put my cleats on my feet, glove on my hand,

and I took a step onto the field.

I was then saved from falling through the crumbling cracks 

of the world below me. 

Softball. 

You have made me cry.

A lot more tears than I am proud to admit, 

and you have chipped away at my muscles and bones for years.

But you have also given me a sense of purpose.

Like I was put here for a reason.

Not for approval or compliments,

but to prove to myself just how strong I can be.

So thank you softball.

For everything you've given me,

and everything you have not.

Because if it wasn't for failure, 

I wouldn’t truly know what it feels like to succeed.

And thank you,

for allowing me to have an escape when my thoughts feel like cars racing

though the tracks of my brain;

never knowing when to stop.