Well, I get the fun part, Bill, & the sense of insiderness in all those terms. Don’t quite see the 'shouldering of arms’; what that means…
doug
> On Sep 4, 2019, at 1:50 AM, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Thanks Sheila, Patrick. Looking forward to being an armchair spectator in
> the fourth Ashes Test starting in Manchester tonight, our time.
>
> Bill
>
> On Wed, 4 Sep 2019 at 5:23 pm, Patrick McManus <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> ha takes me back 65 years thanks Bill P the hopeful swiper often misser!
>>
>> On 04/09/2019 01:09, Bill Wootton wrote:
>>> Sorry, Doug, cricket again.
>>>
>>>
>>> Whereas there exists
>>>
>>> a vast array of shots open
>>>
>>> to a batsman of calibre -
>>>
>>>
>>> the imperious cut shot,
>>>
>>> the swashbuckling sweep,
>>>
>>> the full-blooded drive,
>>>
>>>
>>> the pull shot, the hook,
>>>
>>> the subtle glance,
>>>
>>> the flick, the nudge even -
>>>
>>>
>>> only two shots
>>>
>>> were available to me:
>>>
>>> the block and the hit.
>>>
>>>
>>> Just wanted to get
>>>
>>> bat on ball. The lurch forward
>>>
>>> or the lash out.
>>>
>>>
>>> The other option
>>>
>>> denied mugs like me
>>>
>>> was the leave,
>>>
>>>
>>> the assessed ball
>>>
>>> rocketing towards you
>>>
>>> or digging in and jagging
>>>
>>>
>>> to leg or off, the delivery
>>>
>>> dismissed as unthreatening
>>>
>>> treated with a disdainful
>>>
>>>
>>> shouldering of arms or simply
>>>
>>> sniffed at. Unreachable wides
>>>
>>> don’t count as leaves
>>>
>>>
>>> We mugs we just
>>>
>>> stood before stumps
>>>
>>> blunting or swatting
>>>
>>>
>>> Who’s to say
>>>
>>> we didn’t have
>>>
>>> just as much fun
>>>
Douglas Barbour
[log in to unmask]
https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuations 2 (UofAPress).
Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
Listen. If (UofAPress):
ON THE LAKE
reeds
stalk
reeds
Nelson Ball
########################################################################
To unsubscribe from the POETRYETC list, click the following link:
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=POETRYETC&A=1
