Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus

They hoped for better things.
The Paris of the West deflating
like a balloon untied.
Astride the lakes the city sighs,
contemplating their predicament,
kings of a land now obsolete.

The city's past was kind
Full of Kaline, Greenberg and Kell
Democracy's Arsenal burning bright.
Light for a city in darker days,
Well did they remember Cochrane and Cobb,
mind over matter in the Year of the Bird.

Trammell's return an untrammeled disaster,
Forty-nine out with six games to go.
Panic in Detroit, noone asking for autographs.
Laughs nationwide, they couldn't look you in the eye.
No slack to avoid the record for losses, they
master the opposition to close five for six.

Magglio and Ivan led them back to the promised land,
losers turned winners in a city of loss.
The rebound was swift, and quite unexpected,
suspected by many to be without hope.
Toss in a corps of the young and talented
and once more no team might hold them.

Now the city must see which pride they will feed
and follow the lions or tigers lead.