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The economy's tanking and debates are raging, but fortunately, our readers know an important issue when they see one. We're speaking, of course, about the Raiders. So let's proceed, hastily, to the land of black and silver, for our weekly haiku contest where this week we feature poetic musings on the subject of football.
We'll draw a winner's name from among these clever offerings. (Knightsen poet Donna Merry and her "Desperate Housewives" haiku won last week.) Enjoy these, then go to ContraCostaTimes.com or InsideBayArea.com for more.
Down the exit Lane
Kiffin, one more tourist lost
on Raider highway
— Sherry Weaver Smith, San Ramon
No gridiron grail
For Raiders of the lost art
Of winning the game
— John Barry, Danville
Out, out young Kiffin!
Old Al doth protest too much.
Alas, poor Raiders.
— Judy Pietrzak, Oakland
Awesome Raider fans
Silver painted faces gleam
Awesome or just nuts?
— Ann Hudspeth, Fremont
Black and Silver bombs.
Big "Black Hole" consumes itself.
Rant, Al Davis, rant.
— Patty
Only one game won
Perhaps eye patches would help
The owner blinded?
— Nona Mock Wyman, Walnut Creek
Supernovas crash,
egos implode, season slips
into the black hole
— Sherry Weaver Smith, San Ramon
On a fall Sunday
I am Super Darth Raider
until whistle blows
— Robert Chan, Moraga
Poor Oakland Raiders
Grandpa taught me to love them
Now they break my heart
— Cathy Sandoval, Benicia
Black and silver face
Excite, incite fan fever
Push me, shove me "... RUN!
— Bethanne Keirnan, Pleasanton
Autumn wind is still.
Black Hole is getting darker.
Team pride never dies.
— Lisa Shepherd
Silver-and-black makes
a good case for evening wear.
No, not for one's face.
— Claire J. Baker
So inept, so sad,
The Silver and Black (and Blue).
There is no there, there.
— Paul Dunton
Much like the once great
Nation-state known then as Rome
The raiders are sacked
— John Barry, Danville
The great Al Davis
Holds tight a nostalgic ghost
It's time to let go.
— Cindy Barnett, Concord
Past interference
and intentional grounding —
Davis's yellow flags
— Sherry Weaver Smith, San Ramon
Coliseum rocked
By screaming silver-black fans
Or quake in Oakland?
— Marilyn Slade, Pleasanton
The Coliseum
Both in the past and present
A place of brutality
-- Kent Rothfuss, Orinda
Not enough silver
lipstick to dress up pigskins
sad Raider season
-- Sherry Weaver Smith, San Ramon
Al Davis raises
a question: is this skewed dude
a threat or menace?
-- John Barry, Danville
Raiders fail again
to find and keep a good coach
Practice makes perfect?
-- Donna Merry, Knightsen
See a pattern here?
The hiring, firing, hiring
Snuffs out Raider's flame.
-- Marilyn Slade
Kickin' Kiffin out
As quick as changing channels
The Cable guy's in.
-- Marilyn Slade
Raider Nation lives
on in the fans' hearts at least
Faith for future wins
-- Donna Merry, Knightsen
Money can not buy
a coach for winning season
Davis needs to trust
-- Donna Merry, Knightsen
John Madden, Raider
Coach, how did you last so long
With "Madden-ing" Al?
-- Marilyn Slade
Follow the Sport's page
Re: Raider's soap opera
As team's fans gnash teeth.
-- Marilyn Slade
The silver and black
Reign on Davis' ouster parade
Just who is to blame
-- Herman Kligerman, Hayward
The silver and black
May need a bailout; but first
Let's foreclose on Davis
-- Herman Kligerman, Hayward
Much emigration
from King Al's Raider Nation--
pink-slip coaches pile up
-- Sherry Weaver Smith, San Ramon
Lull in the bye week,
the Raiders need a new tune:
"Wake up Winning Plays!"
-- Sherry Weaver Smith, San Ramon
Lost in the black hole:
off-season millions, Al Davis'
mind, chance for three wins
-- Sherry Weaver Smith, San Ramon
His "tough love" proves that
Al Davis's true colors
Are Silver and Black
-- Kent Rothfuss, Orinda
The silver and black reign
Over Davis' parade of coaches
The question is, who's to blame?
-- Herm Kligerman, Hayward
Football, O football,
where next will you bounce? Al will
tell us exactly.
-- Claire J. Baker
The Raiders I fear
can only "raid the fridge," find
Davis melting ice.
-- Claire J. Baker
Al, show us some Love
Raiders fearful of what's next
Dry my Tears and Fears
-- Bethanne Keirnan, Pleasanton
"Reality Show"
Al Davis takes Center Stage
Oh Help the Winner!
-- Bethanne Keirnan, Pleasanton
Al's not around huh?
Coaches, players know the score.
They need to work more!
-- Darwin aka Kenneth D. Moore
My name is Al, Al
Davis. It's all about me.
Any more questions?
-- Dave Newbry, Martinez
Hire, fire, hire, fire, hire
Fire, hire, fire, hire, fire, hire, fire
Hire, fire, hire, fire, hire.
-- Dave Newbry, Martinez
The "Raider Nation"
Are like Edward E. Hale's "Man
Without a Country"
-- John Barry, Danville
Raiders, buccaneers,
Pirates, brigands, pillagers,
Predators. Losers.
-- John Barry, Danville
Poor Oakland Raiders
Before Davis they were great
Now he blames the coach
-- Cathy Sandoval, Benicia
Davis dragged them down
To L.A. when they were great
And brought back losers
-- Cathy Sandoval, Benicia
For sixty bucks and
four quarters, the accountant
is now Raiderman!
-- Robert Chan, Moraga
Al, where have we gone?
That our silver and black
is now black and blue
-- Robert Chan, Moraga
Mount Davis is high
Airplanes fly low. Air is thick.
Look! There's Candlestick.
-- Pete Cuddyre, Oakland
Davis "raids" contracts
big boss lacks fine principles
loss in the black hole!
-- Nona Mock Wyman, Walnut Creek
Silver and black man
don't be fooled by his walker
his temper still flares!
-- Nona Mock Wyman, Walnut Creek
The Raiders won't be
The New England Patriots
Raiders try harder
-- Laurie
Got a hankering
to haiku?
This week's haikus take on the world's deepest, darkest mysteries. Does candy corn grow on cornstalks? Can you really taste a rainbow in a Skittles bag? (Because we thought rainbows tasted like water vapor.) And what's the deal with those miniature Snickers? Send your trick-or-treat haiku(s) -- three lines in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern -- to jburrell@bayareanewsgroup.com by noon on Thursday, Oct. 16. The winner reaps the usual immortal glory and his or her choice from our selection of just-published hardcover books.
Online
Read more reader-written haiku at ContraCostaTimes.com.
HAIKU TO YOU
