the slump lingers
like a hovering cloud
over the playing field

abandoned by the gods
the golden boys of summer
have lost the magic touch
that made believers of us all

we watch, bewildered
by the long, slow
fall from grace

luck has turned against them.
pressing, second guessing,
spirits sag in the dog day heat

under oppressive skies
they gaze upward to
the steady downpour
of loss upon loss and
shake their mortal heads

09/08/17