Chorley

Chorley grew up clutching his baseball mitt under one arm
And trying to wash the dirt from under his fingernails
So that the books his mother gave him wouldn’t get dirty.
His life was a puppy taken to the park to play.
His life was a jet fighter flying in formation.
Maybe Little House on the Prairie was all right for Chorley,
Or maybe it just made him jealous.
Chorley wasn’t so great at reading or at playing sports,
Though once in a T-ball game he got a homerun
When the third baseman threw the relay home into the stands.