After Miguel Cabrera hits his 499th home run
I make you guess all the members of the 500 club
You take it so seriously
Give it more thought than the time
You took the job that moved us halfway across the country 
Without talking to me first
But I forgive you; it’s a nice life
Sitting here, watching you rattle off the first twenty
Like it’s common knowledge, lips pursed
To draw out five more, brows knit to conjure
The final two. I stare
At the small fold of skin
Above the bridge of your nose, the lift
In your lip
You can do this all day
I can do this forever: watch you
Like an easy pitch right down the middle 
Hungry for contact

CLAIRE TAYLOR is a writer who likes a good pitchers' duel and thinks the biathlon is the most underrated sport. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications and her micro-chapbook, As Long As We Got Each Other, is forthcoming from ELJ Editions. Claire is the founding editor of Little Thoughts Press, a print magazine of writing for and by kids. Claire lives in Baltimore, Maryland, and online at clairemtaylor.com and Twitter @ClaireM_Taylor.