f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

. . Baseball Haiku at Chautauqua, June 26, 2008 . .

– see the 49-minute Roundtable on video at FORA.tv

plus, the 13-minute Interview with Jim Roselle on WJTN1240 AM —

summer loneliness . . .
dropping the pop up
i toss to myself

… by Ed Markowski – Baseball Haiku (2007); pop up (tribe press, 2004)

biking to the field
under a cloudless sky
my glove on the handlebars

…. by Cor van den Heuvel – Baseball Haiku (2007) and Play Ball (Red Moon Press 1999)

at the produce stand
a kid with a baseball
plays catch with the awning

…. by Al Pizzarelli – from Baseball Haiku (2007); The Windswept Corner (2005)

More than 150 fans of baseball and haiku gathered at the Chautauqua Institution’s Hall of Philosophy, on Thursday afternoon, June 26, for a Roundtable on Baseball Haiku, as part of CI’s “Sport in America” week. Sponsored by Chautauqa’s Literary and Scientific Circle, the lecture was presented by Cor van den Heuvel, co-editor of Baseball Haiku (W.W. Norton Press, 2007), along with two major contributors to that volume, Al Pizzarelli and Ed Markowski. f/k/a‘s editor was lucky enough to be present for the event.

Cor started the presentation with a discussion of the relationship that both haiku and baseball have with nature and the present moment. That theme was also stressed by Al Pizzarelli in a front page article published that morning in The Daily Chautauquan.

Cor, Ed and Al also had an entertaining live interview on Thursday morning, by the popular host Joe Roselle, for his daily radio talk show on WJTN News Talk 1240 (Jamestown, NY)

rainy night
a hole in the radio
where a ballgame should be

…. by Ed Markowski – Baseball Haiku (2007); Games (2004)

After Cor’s introductory remarks for the Roundtable, Ed, Al and Cor read their haiku, and helped prove again that “Haiku and baseball were made for each other.”

Here are more of the baseball haiku and senryu presented by Cor, Ed, and Al at the CI Roundtable.

through the blue sky
the tape-wrapped baseball trails
a black streamer

conference on the mound
the pitcher looks down
at the ball in his hand

..… by Cor van den Heuvel, from Baseball Haiku (2007) and Play Ball (Red Moon Press 1999)

late innings
the shortstop backpedals
into fireflies

summer haze
i pick off
the invisible man on first

“red hots!”
for an instant i’m ten
and
father’s still alive

April rain
my grandson practices
his infield chatter

………………………. by ed markowski – Baseball Haiku (2007)

game over
all the empty seats
turn blue

at shortstop
between innings
sparrows dust-bathing

the score keeper
peeks out of the scoreboard
spring rain

.. by Al Pizzarelli – from Baseball Haiku (2007)
“score keeper” – The Windswept Corner (2005)
“at shortstop” – Past Time (1999)

One more reminder to check out Ed Markowski’s new free brochure, “American Sports . . . American Haiku” (June 2008; cover), which has two dozen sports haiku and senryu that were compiled to celebrate this week at Chautauqua.

Below the fold, you will also find several photographs from our two-day stay at the Chautauqua Institution. [See more photos here by Ed’s niece Sara Etten] Meeting Ed and Laurice Markowski and dining-schmoozing with them and Cor, and Al and Donna, made the long drive from Schenectady to Chautauqua, NY, much more than worthwhile. Many thanks to Cor van den Heuvel for brining Baseball Haiku to fruition and making our Chautauqua experience possible.

(by Sara Etten)

Al Pizzarelli and Ed Markowski at the Baseball Haiku Roundtable

Cor & Ed at the Roundtable (by Sara Etten)

Ed Markowski and Cor van den Heuvel at the Baseball Haiku book signing (after the crowd had cleared; by D. Giacalone)