Im still prattling on about Cricket.... I love this poem by Michael Laskey which seems to capture exactly my own thoughts on the afterlife. Its been a hard week (everybody say awww, poor Michael......lol). I promise something more constructive tomorrow...or possibly Saturday...or even Sunday.......lol.
ON HAVING GIVEN UP CRICKET
I shall play cricket in heaven
in return for the afternoons
gladly given to the other
pleasure of others’ leisure.
I shall walk, without haste, to the wicket
and nod to the angels kitted
in their whites waiting to discern
the kind of batspirit I am.
And one stroke in heaven, one dream
of a cover drive will redeem
every meeting of bat
and ball I’ve done without.
And I’ll bowl too, come on to bowl
leg-breaks with such control
of flight and slight changes of pace
that one over will efface
the faint regret I now feel.
But best of all I shall field:
alert in the heavenly deep,
beyond the boundary of sleep.
from 'Thinking of Happiness' (Peterloo, 1991).
Well, you seem to have kept your sense of humor through the rough week. Hope everything gets better.
ReplyDeleteAnd just because you asked, "Awww poor Michael."
Sorry you've had a rough week, Michael. Poetry has a way of soothing all ills.
ReplyDeleteHello Michael,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you posted this. Ever since I heard it on Channel 4, advertising the cricket, I have been trying to find the words. A friend, who was a good cricketer in his day, passed away recently and I thought how appropriate this would have been for him. I hope you don't mind, but I've pinched it!
"Awww poor Michael" but "truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence".
ReplyDeleteHenrik Tikkanen
Hope you feel better by now.
Any idea who read the poem on Radio 4 or Channel 4?
Dolores