Haiku Archives: Fastball

Today’s haiku was inspired by a memory I have of playing in a baseball tournament down in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was seventeen – a pretty good shortstop, but certainly not a Major League prospect. There were several guys on other teams who had attracted scouts from Division I colleges, and there was a pitcher who had caught the attention of a few professional organizations – I think the Royals and the Reds.

They came equipped with radar guns, and they pointed them at the pitcher as he was warming up in the bullpen. Someone’s dad peeked over the shoulder of a scout and said the gun registered at 91 mph. I didn’t believe it until I stepped up to the plate and saw his fastball firsthand.

Baseball Player Pitcher Throw Ball Retro

the pitcher winds up,

he’s a titan in pinstripes –

a blur sizzles by

Drabble Archives: The Sun Sets Quickly in December

I thought I’d try a Drabble today. I didn’t have time to count it, but the software says the word count is exactly 100 (however, hyphens sometimes distort the count, so this might not be a perfect 100 words).

It’s based on a true story. I saw a parrot perched up in a tree last December and somebody set up a ladder to try to reach it. But it just flew to another tree top. I guess it ended up freezing to death. The thought of it really bothered me for some reason. Anyway, here’s the story.

Red parrot in rain. Macaw parrot fly in dark green vegetation. Scarlet Macaw, Ara macao, in tropical forest, Costa Rica, Wildlife scene from tropic nature. Red bird in the forest. Parrot flight.

Somebody’s parrot has gotten loose, vibrant red and yellow fluttering in a pallid sky like the first bold strokes of an artist’s brush.
It lands in the naked branches of a twisted oak, and I want to believe it has done something courageous and beautiful – that a few hours of freedom are preferable to years of life in a cage. But maybe that’s just me trying to see the world through rose-colored glasses.
The sun sets quickly in December, and coyotes are down there in all that darkness waiting to sniff you out when you fall from the high branches.