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Hoof!

Simon Parr

Monday, December 10th, 2007

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 It was Friday @ school and we were all getting ready for our weekly Game of football.
And suddenly we were disturbed by the sight of this stranger Approaching.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 ‘Not to worry’ I said (like anyone ever listened to me) ‘… there is clearly Some kind of PE. teaching absentee and this man is merely some kind Of teaching supply, looking to try his hand @ a little bit of football Coaching.’

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 And we started to play
In the same way that we always did.
In the way that we though was right.
The uninterested kids it seemed to make sense to stick in defense
So they could occupy themselves with some kind of mud-fight.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Whilst the rest of us who desperatley wanted not to lose
Proceeded to play without a thought to formation or tactics or the selection of pass
We hoofed the ball forwards
And then all charged after it en masse.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Leaving the teacher a picture of despair, pulling @ his hair, gasping for air
Before eventually, ‘No no no no no!’ He exploded ‘This is no good at all!
Why are you playing on this massive pitch? When you’re 5 foot tall?
Someone must be having a laugh! About all this I’m feeling far from fine!’
And he grabbed two cones to cut the pitch in half & made a new goal on the half way line.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 ‘And now we’re going to start the game again. In exactly the same way that we’ve already done. This time though, no-ones allowed to run.’

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 And so we re-began with what was now a weird & quite alien game
But pretty soon we began to see the teacher’s aim.
The big, fast kids didn’t like it because it didn’t come quite as easily
And it wasn’t quite the same.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Because two teams were now toe to toe
Play ebbed & flowed
To & fro
4, 5, 6 passes in a row
Even the uninterested kids started using their studs
As more than just a means of extracting mud to throw.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 That day
Everyone was equal and had a part to play.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 It’s amazing what can be found
If you persevere
When on the surface you’re just kicking round a leather sphere
We were playing the game that someone envisaged
When they first came up with the idea.

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 This was all a long time ago
I can’t remember the score
But it didn’t really matter
That’s the point.

© Simon Parr 10/12/07

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/hoof/