The Catch by Simon Armitage

Forget 
the long, smouldering 
afternoon. It is 

this moment 
when the ball scoots 
off the edge 

of the bat; upwards, 
backwards, falling 
seemingly 

beyond him 
yet he reaches 
and picks it 

out 
of its loop 
like 

an apple
from a branch, 
the first of the season. 

~from Heaven on Earth, edited by Wendy Cope (Faber and Faber, 2001)