Posted on

Canvas of a Season

By Ember Nickel

.

The first bright streaks are quiet now. Above
The brash background, the paintbrush sinks into
The paint. This is just the beginning of
The season. Time for layer number two.

It won’t look like this when the year is done.
Most paint will cover over what’s below.
The topmost layer will display who won,
And only what shines through will let us know

What else took place. X-rays might let us see
Archives and dry box scores. But from a glance
The peaks and valleys will be brightest. We
Might forget what’s partly just random chance

As it’s overpainted. But that is how
All seasons go. We’ll enjoy the streaks now.

.

A former contributor to Baseball Toaster, Ember’s blog is Lipogram! Scorecard!.

Posted 5/7/09

Posted on

Kissing HER on the Strikes

By Todd Herges

With apologies to Dizzy Dean.

Spring Break is time for training to play ball
For players and a college couple, too.
But not on sun-drenched South Padre Isle,
And not in Havasu or cheap Cancun:
This boy and girl chose Cactus League for fun.
It could’ve been Vallarta for few pesos.
Instead, like pitcher’s wife and baby son,
They sit on metal bleachers swapping besos.

The sun shines down, the pitchers look for signs.
The umps yell “Foul!” when balls cross outside lines.
The batboys all learn what there is to know.
The shortstops practice how to cut a throw.
While players wait for cut lists, pace the halls,
One schoolboy hopes she’ll kiss HIM.

Posted 3/9/09.

Posted on

To a Donkey

by Tara Franey

Should Adam from Milwaukee hit the road?
His prowess hitting baseballs from the park
Might truly cause my heart to overload.
Ah, yet the line ‘twixt fan and foe is stark
And Hark! Cry those who wish to see him gone:
“He strikes out often and he is not clutch!”
But others here in Redsville are quite fond
Of walks and pitches seen and that nonesuch
Formidable – that bat – when he’s afire,
But in the field is where he fares the worst.
His salary is high and growing high’r
And give him an extension, no one durst.

The fate of Adam Dunn I do not know,
But if he leaves, I’ll mourn to see him go.