Keith Westwater’s NZ cricket poem

Occasionally poems are submitted to me for this blog. I try to include as many poets as possible who have written on cricket.
A poet I was in contact with recently had written a poem that was cricket related. He submitted it to me, and here it is.
Keith Westwater uses cricket and the idea of a batting run out in relation to a possible road accident. The hesitations and confusions of cricketers running between the wickets are vivid in Keith’s poem, and make for a powerful ending.

KEITH WESTWATER

Road Cricket

Driving through town
listening to the cricket
I saw a man
in the road’s grassy middle
about to thread a three-lane needle
with his body

glass, metal, flesh, blood

He danced ahead
like a batsman at the bowler’s end
just before the leather leaves
the bowler’s hand
then scuttled back
to bide another chance

walk, run, dive, swallow

You fool, I thought
you bloody bunny
as my own life’s risky runs
replayed for me right then
though I knew on his far crease
there was no-one looking out to call

YES! NO! WAIT! …sorry

Poem © Keith Westwater

Keith Westwater lives in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. His debut collection Tongues of Ash (IP, 2011) was awarded ‘Best First Book’ in the publisher’s IP Picks competition. More of his poetry can be found on his blog ‘Some place else’ at http://www.keithwestwater.com/.