Legal Commentary

Chautauqua grand slam

By David A. Giacalone

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

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)

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 as 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 Ed and Cor at the Roundtable. (I’ll have a few from Al, too, once I contact him to get permission to post them at f/k/a.)

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)

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. Meeting Ed and Laurice Markowski and dining-schmoozing with them and Cor, 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.

Full post as published by f/k/a . . . on June 28, 2008 (boomark / email).