A true fan

I am a fan

For different 

Reasons.

I am love with 

The Yankees 

Not because

I loved New York.

If anything 

I hated it.

It was a forced 

Family event 

Every time I 

Went.  

I was made 

To feel 

Second class. 

Not by my family

But yours.

It was crowded

Noisy and people 

Talked over

One another.

My escape

Was the field.

I would sneak 

Off and go 

To games 

By myself.

Enjoying a game

I never quite 

Understood.

But loving 

The energy of

Love in the air.

The love was not 

For 

Me. It was for 

The Yankees 

But it was so 

Strong I was 

Able to borrow 

Some of it 

For me.

For this moment 

For this game.  

The cheering

The laughing. 

I was a part of 

This.

I would see regulars 

At many games.

They thought I lived 

In New York.

But I was from Virginia.

I sat and made a separate

Family from my married 

One. 

Going every other

Week was not 

Just for the game 

But for 

My life and the 

Hole it was filling.  

On one of 

My last visits 

I was given 

A Yankees hat

By my stadium 

Family.

I had it for years

And would wear

It when I

Needed strength.

Because at

That moment 

I was starting 

To find myself 

Again.

The hat was taken

And burned by

Someone else 

as a symbol

To me that

Happiness 

And love were 

Something,

I would never have.

But I continued 

To watch the 

Yankees on TV 

In secret to 

Hold my stadium 

Family close.

So you see I am 

A fan..

Maybe not to the players

But the game.

The whole game

The stadium

The fans

The workers...

When I see the Yankees

Symbol it makes

Me smile. 

I am reminded 

Of a group

Of strangers

That would 

Love me,

Make me part

Of their family,

When I was in a

Lonely place. 

I am a fan

Of what the game 

Can give

To the fans 

In the stadium.

Because the Yankees 

Gave me hope.