Wild games and quiet ones

  Nu är jag klar med den stora urvalsprocessen till årets PSTC. Jag har nu 144 dikter (fördelade på 36 lag), med representation från samtliga kontinenter. Europa (11 lag), Nord- och Centralamerika (9), Asien (7), Afrika (5), Oceanien (2) och Sydamerika (2). I morgon kväll skickar jag ut de första sex dikterna för bedömning. 
  Det finns fortfarande plats i läsargruppen, om du är intresserad av att bli medbedömare. Skicka ett mejl till bookrooka1@gmail.com och anmäl dig!

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  Jag lovade att fylla några lördagar med barnpoesi från Carol-Ann Hoyte's båda antologier. I kväll blir det några dikter med sporttema, ur följande bok.

And the crowd goes wild! :
a global gathering of sports poems.
Victoria, BC : FriesenPress, 2012

Först ut en kort text, en haibun (inte haiku), av Rosalee van Stelten.

Lacrosse, the Creator's Game, by Rosalee van Stelten

sunrise, and the brave
swarm the waiting field, bold hearts
ready for battle

while the One who made the world
waits for the game to begin

***

  Sen övergår vi till min hobby - schack, och en dikt som heter King's Gambit.

King's Gambit, by Patricia Cooley

Two oppponents face.

They concentrate
on the checkered turf
and thirty-two chessmen
in precise positions.

Wordlessly,
players calculate
every move,
challenging
castling
capturing
clearing
pawns, knights,
bishops,
rooks and queens
until -
the battlefield is
deserted
but for a few resolute warriors
and a lone King
pinned into a corner.
Silence breaks.
Opponents face.
Winner states,
"Check Mate".

***

Slutligen en rolig dikt om tennis.

Tennis without a net, by Eric Ode

I grab my cap and jacket
and my bent and dented racket.
My friends are waiting for me in the street.
There's Debbie, Dean and Dennis,
and they want a game of tennis.
There's nothing else so wonderful and sweet!

We haven't got a worry
as we scamper and we scurry
and smack that fuzzy tennis ball about.
Oh, life is simply splendid,
but our fun is quickly ended
the moment when Annette gives us a shout.

She screams at Dean and Dennis.
"There are rules for playing tennis!
I'll teach you how to really play the sport."
She grumbles and she hollers
as she grabs us by the collars
and drags us to a proper tennis court.

She tells us about scoring
which I think is rather boring
and all the many rules to not forget.
We listen and we practice,
but the overwhelming fact is
this game's a lot more fun without Annette.