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Hello Bobby

Llew Beaton

Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Back in the 1980s
I used to work in Perth,
(Not the city up in Scotland,
But on the other side of the Earth)…

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 In offices at ‘Council House’
We would plan the town,
Not all good, but not too bad,
The job had its ups and downs.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 On the top floor was a Staff Canteen,
While on level number nine
Councillors had their Dining Room,
Where the elite would wine and dine.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 One lunchtime I was in a lift
Going up to the tenth floor,
When who but Bobby Charlton
Should step in through the door!

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 There he stood in suit and tie,
A mere three feet away,
I was gobsmacked and dumbfounded,
Couldn’t think of what to say…

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Lift went up, stopped, he stepped out
With not a backward glance,
Leaving me to rue the fact
That I’d missed my chance.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Doors closed, so the last I saw
Was him strolling across the lobby,
And I could have kicked myself
For not saying “Hello Bobby”!

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 I’ve never seen him since that day,
(Except sometimes on TV),
But here is a short message
To Man U’s great man from me…

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 Bobby if you’re reading this,
I’d just like you to know,
Better late than never,
From me to you, “Hello…”

© Llew Beaton 21 January 2014

Notes

I don’t know why Bobby Charlton was in Perth, but one of the Councillors was President of the West Australian Football Association and presumably had invited him to lunch. Only the two of us were in the lift and as a personal ‘memento’ I should have said “Welcome to Perth Bobby”, or just “Hello Bobby”, but was so taken aback by seeing a living legend at such close quarters that words failed me!

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/hello-bobby/