Word Up For Kick It Out & Conkering Racism Now!
Hi Some poems and thoughts here..during these special awareness-raising days of October and Black History Month .Right here and right now..we are specifically looking for poems about kicking racsm out of football (and conkers of course!)
so please… keep them coming.(.nice one L Norman! would like ot perform that one?.. thanks- Crispin
Word-Up Kick-It-Out Rap
there has to be a space – there has to be a place
for ev’ry single member of the whole human race
but it starts in the playground – it starts as just a lark
it end up on the journey home-it ends up in the park
it ends up on the playing field -in the rain and thunder
sometimes you hear it-but you’re totally outnumbered
word up – be a beacon be a light
speak out – let your football burn bright
word up -rap the culprits in the eye
kick it out – time for racism to die
word up –
you can sing it you can wing it – you can act it out in class
you can trap it you can rap it – before the feelin’s pass
speak out – put it down upon the page
no doubt – life’s a stage..and this rage ..
we can erase it – -if we face it
word up -rap the culprits in the eye
kick it out – time for racism to die
word up –
you know-no-one has the right to abuse any other
no one has the right- be they stranger or brother
no one has the right to bully or to yell
but no one should be frightened to be the one to tell
but twenty years ago – and if your face was black
if you stood out on the footie-pitch – they’d be on your back
but take a look around you – from Africa today
great players everywhere- we love to see them play
and this world is changing – ya feel it coming through
and maybe lifes’s a lottery but football dreams come true
and who knows this time an Asian tomorrow
when one come through i said the rest will follow
word up -rap the culprits in the eye
kick it out – time for racism to die
word up
© crispin t – june 02
originally written and performed for the Kick It Out/Word Up Football Poetry event in Bradford during the World Cup this summer gone…now re-earthed for Black History Month and an exciting project which Stuart Butler has wonderfully instigated involving football poetry in schools on the same theme..with thanks to Piara and Zacia at Kick It Out www.kickitout.org who work diligently towards kicking racism out of football…and by the way the Asian angle is to highlight the current lack of any Asian players in any of the professional flights….albeit three up-coming youngsters are highlighted on the kick it out site..check it out..one a budding female and one who has already played at u-16 level for England!
—————————————————————————-
On Conkering Racism In The Playgeround!
it’s not just football friends oh no
that suffers in this style
they’ve banned the sport we loved to play
is racism to blame I say
how can our schools just take away
our conkers?
and banish now like leaves from trees
on Autumn’s concrete floor
the right to glorious chestnut times
more dangerous than mountain climbs
i had to put it into rhyme
it’s bonkers
more violent they now proclaim
than derbies or the like
now ended after endless years
like six-ers that we lost in tears
our youthful dreams we lost our fears
in rompers*
no longer in the schoolyards
these conquered implements
now driven from the cycle shed
they turn a deeper shade of red
is liberty and freedom dead
i really think its bonkers
gone with the summer gone for good
gone with our childhood days
no drying them – no soaking well
no trying to hide the vinegar smell
no heating them no one to tell
but conkers
they’ve taken it away now
the danger risk and more
of string in eyes or stinging thighs
of locker-rooms comparing size
of boy-ish-girlish fiendish cries
when smashed ones go astray
in Yonkers***
and only rebels will persist
as rebels always will
without permission from their mums **
or letter-writing forging chums
like people who tattoo their thumbs
they’re bonkers
this game of conkers we all love
now banned in every town
you ask me of me and I reply
that underneath I wonder why
and just like Ali G I cry
IS IT BECAUSE THEY’RE BROWN?
© crispin t – sept 02
since writiIng this..i felt compelled to reply ot William Shakespeare’s guest book repost-entry…is he stil living in the Middle Ages..yes sadly methinks!
Dear Willie Le Shake(Pah!),Clik (bien- venue) and All Football Poets..
O yes that ol’ chestnut you might say…but……….
as football poets and in Stu’s case teacher …in a month where kicking racism from football and all sport is prominent..we are contacting you with regard to the recent banning of ‘playing conkers’ from the play-ground.We are also horrified by the introduction NATIONALLY of “written permission from parents or guardians being required.. to play conkers at school “..
We have to ask…what are your feelings? Is this racism gone mad? What next?.Is football with a tennis ball ok in playgrounds.. because the ball is now white and no longer brown?.Can anyone re-assure our dedicated society that our world is still a safe place to play in .A place to join together (with a gentle vibe of course) and beat the living daylights out of our classmate’s chestnut, with love…..it’s an outlet surely?
sincerely – Norman Le Conkerere
CTM UK-Celtic Traditional Music
Stroud England
Tel (0)1453 757376
www.ctmuk.com
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Welcome to Football Poets -- a club for all football poets, lovers of football and lovers of (alternative) poetry. Discover poets in every league from respected internationals at the top of their game to young hopefuls in the school playground.
Publish your football poems here and then discuss them with your team mates and fans. We're archived by The British Library, so your masterpieces are in the safe hands of a world-class keeper. What a result!
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Crispin’s Corner
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Kick It Out & Christmas Truce
Latest Comments
29th March 2024 at 10:54 am
Sorry Crispin,
I had problems in posting my latest poem The Top Three battle it out.
Cheers mate
Joe
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19th March 2024 at 8:00 am
Hi Crispin. Chris Sutton on the radio has gone for a Chelsea v Coventry final. As we know anything can happen in the Cup, and I reckon we can go to the final.
We’re still in with a chance of the play offs too, so lots to go for.
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19th March 2024 at 7:41 am
Hey Kev
Let the masses drool over their odds on City v Unted Final, but who knows how pressure can hit.
Cov and Chels will be rightly labelled as having no chance..but hey …stranger things have happened..
so Chelsea v Coventry…that’s the Final for us!
Best
C
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29th January 2024 at 10:03 pm
Hi Crispin,
How are you doing mate? Yes, you’re probably right but hey football is all about emotion and passion and I just love writing about the game. I try to keep my poetry to a reasonable length but there’s so much to write about the game and its literature just lends itself naturally to poetry. Sometimes I just get completely carried and I do apologise for the length of my poetry but it’s a great thrill to be associated with Football Poets.
Cheers mate
Joe
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10th January 2024 at 7:52 pm
You’re right of course Joe but…..it’s actually more of a big welcome break for everyone who is not into Premier League ..I’m talking fans of EFL National League and below…..
Btw …is this actually your longest poem ever !?
Best
Crispin
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8th January 2024 at 4:45 pm
Thanks!
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8th January 2024 at 10:42 am
There’s something so evocative and nostalgic for football fans the world over, in ‘revisiting’ old lost grounds.
Occasionally some remnants remain, with perhaps part of a wall or part or a stand or thre shape of a terrace, but often they are only still there in faded images and in our heads..
Great stuff Graham
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4th January 2024 at 10:13 am
A great idea and well executed. Thanks Graham.
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19th November 2023 at 1:45 pm
Thanks Gacina, glad you liked it, and I have just posted a new one about our points deduction…
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7th November 2023 at 6:34 pm
Today B.B.C post on F.B was titled:Premier League reduced to 18 clubs? I really think it may be interesting to see if this would be Everton’s nightmare and this poem is well suited for this concern.If there would be more difficult battle to stay if there were 18 teams.Great poem and somehow true.
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