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Poems tagged ‘death’

Sixty Second Minute

John Gilbert Ellis

Sunday, February 9th, 2025

With sixty-two minutes played
at a rancid, rainy Selhurst Park,
two photographs appear 
on the jumbo screen, floating 
over the on-pitch preparations
to take a disputed penalty.

Matthew Higgins and Mick Lloyd
sixty-two years of age
eternal supporters, fathers,
stalwarts, drivers and friends,
give us a mirrored reminder
of well lived lives played out
with more than nil-nil intent.

A minute of gentle clapping
rises in kind acknowledgment
of their coincidental death,
while on the pitch,
the bickering football match
continues oblivious and intense.

The whistle blows, and the ball
stumbles towards a Palace post.
The penalty kiss and miss
takes the crowd by surprise
enough to break the reverential bliss.

Claps turn to jeers and boos.
A lifetime chance squandered,
life come breaking in, as usual,
leaves us with the ‘if onlys’ to ponder.

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/news/poem-tags/death/