Tony Beyer’s NZ cricket haiku

I wrote earlier on Cyril Childs’s cricket haiku. Two other contributors in A Tingling Catch who write haiku are André Surridge and Tony Beyer.

Tony has several haiku in A Tingling Catch, and he sent me some more to share with you.
Tony writes: ‘My classroom is right next to the main oval at NPBHS [New Plymouth Boys High School] and there have been quite a few home games this season. They also trigger off longer memories (and shadows) of the game -- there can be no other sounds on earth quite like those.’:

TONY BEYER

loud appeal

boys in the classroom

run to the window

*

swing and miss

someone shouts advice

from the boundary

*

no ball

the paceman

revises his run-up

*

stalled run-up

the batsman adjusts

his wrists

*

that great season

Crowe Greatbatch and us

in the back yard

*

dusk on the outfield

still talking

about that catch

*

beach innings

three driftwood stumps

and a dog at mid on

*

last over

long shadows

from the fielders’ feet

Poems © Tony Beyer

Thanks Tony

See also my related blog posts: 'Cyril Childs's NZ cricket haiku' (February 2011) and 'André Surridge's new cricket haiku' (October 2010).

A Tingling Catch on NZ Poetry Society website

Cyril Childs tells me A Tingling Catch appeared on the haiku news section of the NZ Poetry Society's website. Here's the link: www.poetrysociety.org.nz/node/530

Cricket Poetry Anthology

A Tingling Catch (HeadworX, $35) is an anthology of cricket poetry - the first such collection in New Zealand - and is edited by Mark Pirie, himself a well-known poet. Launched at the [Long Room] at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on October 31, the book includes poems by Kevin Ireland, Brian Turner (well, of course!), Harry Ricketts, James Brown, John Clarke (yes, the John Clarke), Denis Glover, Richard Langston, Elizabeth Smither and David Eggleton.

Also featured are two tanka by André Surridge, two haiku by Tony Beyer and nine haiku (in three sets of three) by Cyril Childs. Howzat!  

cover drive
   the speeding ball
   rearranges the pigeons
         but slightly

- Cyril Childs

grandpa's garden plot
behind the pavilion
staked tomatoes
plump and shiny
the size of cricket balls

- André Surridge

galahs
on the sight screen
the batsman appeals

- Tony Beyer

(For readers outside New Zealand, “galahs” refers to people acting the fool. A galah is a pink and grey cockatoo native to Australia, noisy and mischievous. The bird is not found in New Zealand, but the term is.)

(Also for readers outside New Zealand, poet Brian Turner is the brother of former NZ Test cricketer and former NZ Test cricket coach Glenn Turner; John Clarke aka Fred Dagg.)

(From NZ Poetry Society haiku and tanka news page)

Thanks Cyril