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The Sea is Calm Tonight

Stuart Butler

Friday, May 6th, 2016

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 The sea is calm tonight.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
From far distant football ground
High above a Cotswold market town
Where wood and sward doth intertwine
In a resolute spring sylvan sign
That betokens ‘Victory!’
Not from Sherwood FOREST
In Lincoln GREEN,
With outlaws and poachers,
But from FOREST GREEN,
With goal-poachers,
Left wingers, Levellers, Diggers, Llamas,
The ghosts of handloom weavers,
Pedlars, tinkers, spinners of yarns,
Dale Vince’s capacious pockets,
Quorn pie, mash, peas,
Stroud Brewery ales …
Away fans might chant ditties such as
‘WE WANT MEAT, WE WANT MEAT’
And
‘PUB TEAM WITH MONEY,
YOU’RE JUST A PUB TEAM WITH MONEY’,
But as Fred Astaire so nimbly put it,
When dancing down the wing at Eastington
In top hat, white tie and tails:
‘Ha ha ha,
Who’s got the last laugh now?’

Notes

Editor Note:
Forest Green Rovers take on Dover Athletic on Sat 7th May 7.30pm in the second leg of the Vanarama National League semi-final Play offs. With a fabulous away 1-0 win at Dover in the first leg on Wednesday, the chance to reach Wembley and the Football League looms large. Some have commented on the ‘little team upon the hill, being a quiet crowd but we now have a drummer and three clappers and a wooden rattle so it will be rocking…..Crispin

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/the-sea-is-calm-tonight/