Batter Up!

—Anonymous Photos

CASEY AT THE BAT
(an Alphabet poem)
—Michael Ceraolo, S. Euclid, OH


Another day and another game for Mudville's

Baseball maniacs, who cheered like

Crazy for their hometown team.  They were

Devoted to their star player Casey and the

Ensemble cast surrounding him, who were

Facing their great rivals in the pennant race's decisive

Game, and they found themselves trailing by two

Heading into the bottom of the ninth

Inning.

Jimmy Blake's and Joe Flynn's hits

Kept their pennant hopes alive and

Left two men on with two men out.

Mighty Casey himself then strode to the plate,

Nodding in acknowledgement of the fans' standing

Ovation.

Perhaps the anonymous pitcher didn't know Casey's

Q score, for he failed to show Casey any

Respect,

Slipping past him a fastball and a curve,

Two pitches called strikes by the

Umpire, who was then drenched in

Venom from the vociferous fans

Willing to bury him where he stood with an

X marking the spot of interment.

You expected Casey to swing and he did, but the pitcher

Zipped the third strike by him to end the game and the season.

TERM
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA

“Trusty” is a government bond,
kept in a safety deposit box,
that will reach maturity in 7 years.

The government will deploy
only the highest and best
resources to protect “Trusty”.

“Jane” is an 11-year-old child
attending public school
who will also reach maturity in 7 years.

“Jane” must wonder
moment to moment
if the next breath she takes
will be her last.

NOTES FROM A CANNIBAL’S MARRIAGE
—Eamonn Stewart, Belfast, Ireland

The first psychophany, from futurity
Her sugar glass ceiling smashing
I misheard, but not the

Psychophanies over the phone.
Ice lolly headaches.
She used to eat the rag nails
From my fingers.

Then she crashed through
The sugar glass ceiling.
Drsmiels at work
Clucked and clucked
Until I was fucked.

In an earlier age
I could have sang:
“Her crocodile tears have
Given me syphilis”.
At the fair, when she said
She should leave,
My candyfloss turned to ectoplasm.
After making love to her
I had somatic hallucinations for hours sometimes.
She gnaws at my fingers still.

____________________

Today’s LittleNip:

Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.

—Yogi Berra

____________________

Our thanks to today’s fine poets, including Eamonn Stewart in Ireland. About his poem, he writes: “It is a poem about intimacy betrayed more than anything else. The line about tears causing syphilis is from a dubious translation of a line from a Schubert song that a music teacher from my old school gave to our class one day. Sugar glass is used in Hollywood stunts. Drsmiel is a demon that breaks up marriages.”

It looks like spring is finally sprung here in our area; time to think about getting out and about again, including not only baseball, but brushing up your skills at a poetry workshop. Maxi Allen, the moderator of the Valley Hi-North Laguna Library workshop (in south Sacramento), writes that the library (and Sac. Poetry Center) hosts a poetry workshop every other Thursday from 6:00-7:30pm. The next meeting is April 5. This workshop has been ongoing since 2015 and is always open to hearing from voices in the community. Bring 15 c. of your one-pg. (or less) poem, 12-size font, your name on the bottom of the page. And of course, the long-running (more than 20 years!) Tuesday night workshop meets weekly at the Hart Sr. Center in Sacramento; call Danyen Powell at 530-756-6228 for info. For more area workshops, go to the green column next to this one here in the Kitchen.

Cold River Press is calling for submissions for the 2018 Sacramento Voices. Information will be coming soon at www.coldriverpress.com/.

Poetry readings in our area begin tonight in Placerville with the Poetry in Motion read-around at Placerville Sr. Center, 6-7pm. Then Sac. Poetry Center will present the Squaw Valley Community of Writers reading and forthcoming anthology, Poems from the Valley, 7:30pm. On Friday, Speak Up: The Art of Storytelling and Poetry presents poets/storytellers on the theme of “Growing Up”, 7-8:30pm.

On Saturday (3/31), 5:30-10pm, The Pablo Neruda Music, Art, & Poetry Festival will take place at Todo un Poco Bistro, 9080 Laguna Main St., Elk Grove, featuring William O’Daly reading from his new book of Neruda translations, The Book of Twilight, and other poets, musicians and artists celebrating the work of Neruda. Free. Scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info about these and other upcoming poetry events in our area—and note that more may be added at the last minute.

—Medusa

 Celebrate poetry!

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