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Match of the Day

Martin Brown

Wednesday, December 19th, 2001

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Match of the Day

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Strange meeting in winter,
Christmas: Flanders mud and snow.
But stranger still our games;
Who brought a football here?

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Coming in from the line
I curved that ball away,
Seeking out a team mate
And the piled-coat goal posts.
He took it!
And he scores!
The winning goal, I think,
Though no-one kept the score.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Afterwards, sharing fags,
Some bottles and some songs
We talked about our homes.
The schnapps kept out the chill,
The strange warmth of that game
Has cheered me down the years.
We never saw such days again.

© Martin Brown 19th December 2001

Notes

I’ve submitted poems here on this theme before but at this time of year it’s one I keep returning to. The Christmas Trench Football in 1914 is a wonderful metaphor for hope and humanity, no matter what.

Happy Christmas and peace on Earth

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/match-of-the-day/