No More Outs to Play (A Villanelle)

by Joe Pacheco

As per Edward Arlington Robinson

They have all moved away,
The stadium’s shut and still.
No more outs to play.

No one to shout hooray
Or feel late inning thrill,
They have all moved away.

No afternoon display
Of valor, strength and skill.
No more outs to play.

Nor high priced stars to pay
Or luxury box to fill,
They have all moved away.

As empty stands decay,
Grass shrouds the pitcher’s hill,
No more outs to play.

One last fireworks array
Will deliver final kill.
They have all moved away.
No more outs to play.

.

A villanelle is a poetic form which entered English-language poetry in the 1800s from the imitation of French models. A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds. The first and third lines of the first stanza are rhyming refrains that alternate as the third line in each successive stanza and form a couplet at the close. A villanelle is 19 lines long, consisting of five tercets and one concluding quatrain.   (Wikipedia)

Posted 4/23/2010

Dear Major League Loser (a/k/a A Sorry Red Sox Fan)

by Stephen Jones

.

27 banners & how many pennants?
Looking from Mars counting

Viewing a planet history
Nothing’ shrouded nor a mystery

Of shafts of light of gods & odds
& stars aligned

No mystery to see just
Observing the future inevitable

Adios Red Sox

.

Posted 4/22/2010

To-Do List

By Ember Nickel
.
There’s more than clocks that must be cleaned in spring:
Some clocks were cleaned, but we don’t need them here.
There’s new faces to meet, all who will bring
Something different to their team for this year.
.
So say hello to Halladay. Don’t say
That Placido need be placid, though. Greet
Greenhorns around the leagues. Proudly call “hey”
To Justin Heyward and each star you meet.
.
Try your best to keep up with Garrett Jones.
Welcome back Marcum. Spring’s glories fade fast
So soak it all in before it all drones
Into no more than murmurs of the past.
.
Learn more of phenoms that you may have heard
Just briefly of. Say hi. Welcome a Byrd.

.

Posted 4/21/2010

American League West 2010 Haiku Forecasts

By Stuart Shea

ANGELS
Rich Latino woos
White fans who usually hire
Latino workmen.

ATHLETICS
Moneyball’s sunset
Means the lineup now includes
Kevin Kouzmanoff.

MARINERS
Hey, Jack Z….that nut
That fell off the hitting tree?
He’s your problem now.

RANGERS
Sweet spring robins’ song
May sound suspiciously like
“Neftali Feliz.”

.

Posted 4/20/2010

A Young Fellow’s Fancy

by Hilary Barta

.

It’s Spring, and a young fellow’s fancy…
well, you know, a fella gets antsy
.     Sees a bat, ball and glove
.     and his thoughts turn to love
Just like when Sid Vicious saw Nancy

.

Hilary Barta, well-known comic book illustrator, also runs Limerwrecks, a terrific website with limericks on monster movies, film noir, comic books and other pop culture. 

Posted 419/2010