cricket today

baleful
wicketless
over and out.
no cup.

no knowing what's shielded
as questions are fielded
on the other side of the boundary.

and the squad of trumps
down in the dumps
in the wake of hype
and designer yarns

technically in
but otherwise gone....
unless... bermuda's shots
and just one slip
between the cup and the homeward ship

applique

patchwork
trendy worlds
stitch by stitch
counterpane
fibrous mix
the roughage
the adage
the check-in cabbage.

races with a finish line
ribbons with a cutting edge
zigzag by these highways.

other vacuums:
reined-in strays
seek desperate validation
of present ways.