The Beauty Of Baseball Poetry Contest
Matt Caliri
A supposedly wide-open, empty street
A rubber ball, a plastic bat, and a real game.
Kids playing to the baseball beat
The diamond asphalt is just the same.
Lines are drawn, and teams are picked.
The pickup games are for bragging rights
Where emotions are high, and egos are nicked.
Some kids haven't reached their grown heights.
The bigger ones hit the longer ball
The little tots hit short liners that hit parked cars.
Homers hit homers over the wall
A neighbor’s house is seeing stars.
Foul balls find a garden bed
Where a stampede of kids thrashes the roses.
A homeowner is cussing and seeing red.
Today's game comes to an end and forecloses.
Tomorrow’s stars have a dream
To play on the big stage.
Where it all started with the pickup teams
On the streets and to the homeowner’s rage.
Baseball is America’s pastime.
Hot dogs, sunflower seeds, and lemonade fill the plate.
There is a passion and a youthful chime
And these kids arrived early and don’t want to be late.
There is no guarantee
when it comes to the
heart...
though love released with
sincere eternity – our carriers,
though Homers of loyal wings
transverse a sky of hawks
There is no guarantee
when it comes to matters
of interpersonal love – only God knows
man's truest beats – for the mortal heart
is an aggressor
while also retreats
Love, indeed!~ is a campaign of sorts
armies of feelings going forth
entrenchment on both sides
love often hides
while never a victory without
two fond surrenders
When a record might be broken,
All the fans are on their toes.
Will it happen now or later?
Well, nobody really knows.
So the Yankees are expecting
Aaron Judge to do to the deed
If he hits just 2 more homers,
Which is never guaranteed.
Roger Maris holds that record;
Back in 1961
He surpassed Babe Ruth’s achievement,
Sixty homers, by just one.
Judge has 60 at the moment
And each time he’s up at bat,
There’s a buzz throughout the stadium,
Just waiting for that stat.
But the pressure is enormous;
So far Judge has not come through,
Yet all baseball fans are hoping
He will do what he must do.
Though the Yankees won, most watching
Would have sacrificed that win
To see Judge tie up the record
So the breaking can begin.
Fads come and fads go
Is this pronoun thing a ho ho ho?
I am sure for some it is important and real.
Others jump on, wanting more zip and zeal.
Tik Tok and U-tube, two of today’s norms
Taking new directions, creating new forms
Will they both be passé’ in the thirties?
Names going back to Homers and Gerties?
Database and web were unknown in the eighties.
Google was not a word known to us natives.
Word processors barely peeking out.
LOL and MMAT make me want to shout!
The first computers took an entire room.
No one fathomed owning one.
Now we all talk away on Zoom.
High tech craziness. Oh what fun!
Things are moving at mega-super-speed.
People like Putin filled with incredible greed.
Sex traffickers are real and true.
I liked the old ways. How about you?
Who am I?
A question with a purpose and so very deep,
One could go on and never touch bottom.
The search for the answer can be compared
to that of Homers The Odyssey.
Its an outlandish adventure filled with Highs and Lows.
A mission that tests all that is human,
By end ones pride will be broken and rebuilt.
Who am I? is a lead question heavy and cruel to ask.
Who are you? Who am i?
Why, why, why, why.... WHY!
I'm yet to know, how do i know,
Did you know? Tell me who am I?
Cause i cant even begin to describe!
Baseball will be back on the scene once more
For a 162 games, I'll watch all the scores
I root for the Blue Jays
My two arms I raise
As they belt out homers, and the crowd it does roar
Walk-off homers are the thrill of the home team
They rejoice in jubilation, the whole team beams
Friends french kiss friends
Men kiss ugly men
Players touch each other in places unscene
A little guy by baseball standards is garnering much praise
His name is Devon Travis of the Toronto Blue Jays
He's on a tear
Hits more than his share
Of doubles and homers, he continues to amaze
First half of the month cooler, then the second half warmer
Spring clocks turned forward, daylight lasting longer
Games of gold always told, losing harassed nine-fold
Allowed homers and walked batters that would be never
Scrimmage full of big time moments given, at the end guilt-ridden,
but rainy days getting more frequent leaving fields flooded.
Rainout, rain delay, games are stopped or canceled
deep into the night as fans sit in the grandstands
Agonizing for players and fans alike going home drenched
Despite the weather or the ups and downs of the sports
games will be played and fans will always spend watching their sporting events
4/19/2017
ROWNTREE PARK
I have found green here
bordered by white lines
that meet then veer off
into infinity, perfect symmetry,
peppered by flashing yellow dandelions.
These, and more, colours
I have found here.
I have found dreams here
in the bats that sing for singles
and scream for homers,
in the cleats that pound
a rhythm as they slap the ground
with mercurial delight.
Oh, the sights and sounds
that I have found here.
I have found the cycles of life here
in the grass below and the sky above,
in the safe and the out,
I have found peace.
I have found youth here,
for here I am not an old man
barely able to walk,
I am forever ten
as I round the bases and slide
headfirst into home,
the feel of dirt in my face
and the smell of death in the tag.
RICKEY HENDERSON
IS ELITE
HE DID IT ALL
ON HIS OWN TWO FEET
RICKEY'S WELL KNOWN
FOR STOLEN BASES
LEAD OFF HOMERS
AGAINST THE ACES
SILVER SLUGGER
GOLDEN GLOVE
A TALENTED ATHLETE
AND CUT ABOVE
HE HOLDS THE RECORD
FOR STOLEN BASES
ACCOMPLISHED THIS FEAT
BY VISITING PLACES
3,000 HITS
AMONG NINE DIFFERENT TEAMS
TIME RUNS PAST
OR SO IT SEEMS
RICKEY'S THE BEST
THAT'S WHAT RICKEY WOULD SAY
AS LONG AS HE DOESN'T
HAVE TO FACE RYAN TODAY
ON SECOND THOUGHT
RICKEY LOVES THE THRILL
IF HE STRIKES RICKEY OUT
RICKEY LIVES UP TO THE BILL
AUGUST, 89
ON THE 22ND DAY
RICKEY BECAME RYAN'S
5,000TH K
TO QUOTE THE ALL STAR
AND SERIES MVP
"HE GAVE ME NO CHANCE"
"HE JUST BLEW IT BY ME"
Baseball seasons here
How many homers this year
I drive fourwheeler all day
I stay in the sun and bail hay
Hope I get some money
Then I'll buy some honey
Sit at the fire all night
hope mosqiutos don't bite.
Newsflash
Near the Jewish New Year
Ike Davis of the New York Meetropolitans hit 2 home runs
Newsflash
Near the Jewish New Year
Israel's baseball team beat South Africa
Newsflash
My late father used to speak about Sid Luckman
World Famous Football hero
News flash
Sandy Koufax (the left arm of God) is
is still alive
Newsflash
And took off on the Jewish New Year
Newsflash
Samuel Reshevsky
was U.S. Chess Champion
Ethnic pride is permissible
And there are manyy good member of the tribe
Despite having some very, very bad apples
like every other ethnic group
Ever since the game of baseball had begun,
nothing excites the fans like a walk-off home run.
In the ninth inning with a tie score,
hit a home run and you don’t have to play anymore.
Perhaps the bullpen did not save the game.
Having a tie score after the ninth is a shame.
This is a common thing that is hardly a quirk.
Extra innings to play means additional work.
If a home team player homers for the local crowd,
the fans with elation will cheer quite loud.
Inning after inning without runs brings frustration.
However, the home team scoring brings jubilation.
To be the team’s latest hero
is the greatest joy any player will ever know.
The clear zing into the air
As my thoughts depart from existence.
The little brain waves ramble along the bases.
Sick to the thought of motion my spirit hovers.
For I never left home plate.
I am everywhere all the time.
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