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Poems tagged ‘World Cup 2022’

WC2022: social injustice silenced

World Cup Willie

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022

One Love
garners no love
from the unlovable

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60 shortly

joe morris

Saturday, November 19th, 2022

It’ll be 60 for yours truly next
Wednesday when some of us became aware of
Football’s pulsating melodies and threnodies
Those anguished breast-beating moments
Against opponents of four yearly cycles
When the world searched for tantalising titles
When World Cups were fair and sensible
And you tried to be responsible
Then at the tender age of seven
Oh what footballing heaven
Your footballing sensibilities were awoken
But never broken
The 1970 World Cup, Mexican mariachis
Plucking at your tender heartstrings
When childhood always sings
The Brazil of Tostao, Gerson, Rivelino
And the angelically incomparable Pele
Oh how we must have longed for this moment
Even while blissfully unaware
We could never square
The epic magnitude and attitude
Consequences, results and fractions
Of their actions, reactions
And now once again on the verge
Of your 60th birthday, November day
The anniversary of your arrival
Without rival
They grace your senses
In all manner of tenses
Bliss, nirvana
It was fated to be this way
This time Neymar and the Hammer
They clamour for
Paqueta in the desert storm
The accepted norm
Caught up on the charred and burnt
Embers of the sullied stands
Where lurk Saudi men with bands
Banning, outlawing, snarling
Occasionally disarming
We must hope for the right way
Oh OK
Then sneering, not cheering at World Cup
Festivals, heartless and fearless
Disapproving but careless
In their affections and vocal inflections
No alcoholic celebration
Just avoid the lager of temptation
Should ever pass their lips
Bring on the swaying of Brazilian hips
Then we look the other way, we would never say
At those we despise
Who were we to express surprise?
The ones who just want to party
And have a good time, once again
Time to shine
And yet the Saudis were the ones
Who remained inhumane
So one 60 year old
Will steady his nerves
All the curves and swerves
Of football’s finest
And address his conscience
Without any foresight or prescience
Because we know who we are
Although those in the Middle
East clearly don’t.
Time to pause and recognise
The pros and cons
Rights and wrongs
A World Cup in Qatar
It just sits uncomfortably
In our rational minds
Twisting and turning
And never finds
Plausible solutions
Just incandescent with fury
Why oh why
Qatar the country none of us
Could shape our perceptions
Of how football used to be
Many moons ago
For the first time in a long time
Football fans the world over
Are restless and hurt
Over this World Cup
Diseased and tormented
With feverish doubt
The one that got away
And then regretted because
We could never understand
Its origin, the provenance
Of where exactly it came from
The tortured brain of Sepp Blatter
For we thought it was his fault
Amid brazen admissions of guilt
Where empires were once built
Will haunt him at breakfast, lunch
And supper, Blatter let’s scupper
Your dreams
Upon the march of World Cup teams
Too late now Sepp thank goodness
You’re gone and out, a foolish roustabout
History at the dawn of the wheel
While huge towers of gold and steel
Stare unapologetically over sand and sea
Those gleaming hotels of obscene wealth
In the rudest health
Tomorrow we’ll await opening ceremonies
And extraordinary melodies from temples
Where once doom will sweep the gloom away
For World Cup playgrounds of joy, oh boy
Where once we paid homage to Brazilians
Who abound in the round, never found to be
Wanting of exquisite skill
Touched by the indescribable will
To improvise still,
To the present day
Their way
Where the bold and beautiful
Are somehow dutiful
Will ply their craft
Never ever daft, but
Immensely sensitive
Not evenly remotely tentative
Go for it Brazil, England, Argentina,
Spain, Germany
Paint brushes by the ready
Now let’s be steady
A World Cup in November
It still feels surreal
A stage where Dahli may
Well have felt at home
But never alone
Onwards and upwards
England, Gareth Southgate
Monday, Iran
We’ll be there
Or maybe we won’t

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Let the voyage begin Gareth.

joe morris

Tuesday, November 15th, 2022

So Gareth it’s all aboard
The voyage into the unknown
Tales of the mystical Middle East
World Cup tales of derring do
Disapproval ringing in your ears
England expects
But this is morally bankrupt
Surely, Qatar in winter
Football on soiled turf
How can we reconcile ourselves
To the illegitimacy of it all
The prohibitions, the forbidden
Booze, human rights abominations
Outraged hearts and minds
How could they?
They could and they will
Global football under the microscope
Viewed intensely, seriously and
Of course, critically
England and Wales this time
So the world will gaze over
Delicately carved valleys
Deep into the eyes and ears
Of Cardiff, Swansea and Llanelli
Gareth Bale’s voluptuous left or
Right foot the one that unnerved
England in Euro 2016
But now six years later
And the men from Harlech
Will whistle down country lanes
Or Welsh male and female voice choirs
Will find another rhapsody
From sweet diaphragms and
Passionate men of gold
Find a welcome on the hillside
And yet Gareth Southgate
Prepare yourself for the
American song book where
Sir David Beckham once found
His vintage years after the
Legendary Manchester United
Seasons of joy
Then Iran will face
England with yet more
Reservations trailing behind them
Iran, it has a sinister tone
But time to leave politics on
The traditional back burner
Before the Welsh fires
And wholesome flair
Will meet on harmonious grounds
England, Gareth Southgate
We all wish you well

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WC2022: goal or gaol?

World Cup Willie

Saturday, November 12th, 2022

I’m Spartacus!
No, I’m…..

well not quite.
I’m boycotting!….
England’s first game, for all the right reasons –
repudiating a Republic where rights are unreasonably 
driven roughshod into the ground
and just to compound
those differences
the laws lassoo any perceived liberalism
and herd the halter-necked to the hell-hole of gaol

not for us or our sensibilities…
but is it incumbent upon us to red-flag
that divergence of dogma?

or is it right
that our lauded legion of crowd-pleasers
do their thing
and help set in motion
not just a potion, of skills and goals
but help us work towards
a cultural commonality
of the very best of humanity

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Let’s Boycott Qatar

Crispin Thomas

Tuesday, November 8th, 2022

let’s boycott Qatar
it’s wrong for heaven’s sake
however little diff’rence
our non-viewing will make
let’s go watch a small club
while games go on at home
while they just greenwash endlessly
to justify their own

let’s boycott Qatar
FIFA need to know
let’s protest while it goes on
this ugly blood-drenched show

from BBC to BT
from ITV to Sky
a shame on ev’ry pundit
who does not raise an eye
while in their gushing build ups
you’d never even know
it wasn’t just in Europe
the usual World Cup show

let’s boycott Qatar
their antiquated rules
where power walks and money talks
to make us watch like fools
and shame on those who grab a buck*
to be our pawns out there
bigging up a government
devoid of love and care
for those who suffer in the heat
exploited ’til they fall
and those whose sexuality
will tread a diff’rent call

so let’s boycott Qatar
although they won’t relent
I’ve never ever felt like this
before a tournament
let’s go watch a small club
it isn’t hard to do
and while the big boys have a break
there’s one not far from you
and let us just anticipate
the Women’s World Cup too
and not far off in Germany
the Euros will come through

so let’s boycott Qatar right now
it’s wrong for heaven’s sake
however little diff’rence
our non-viewing will make
let’s go watch a small club
as games go on at home
while they just greenwash endlessly
to justify their own

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Qatar ~ Will We Watch Or Not?

Crispin Thomas

Friday, October 7th, 2022

oh dear another four years on
and just like Russia and South Africa
the question arises again
Qatar – will we watch or not
and equally will we write poems about it ?
the football that is

yeah it’s that time guys
you know with or without fan zones
will our fans behave (those who can even afford to go that is)
to another ever-questionable location ?
where yet again disgustingly overpriced tickets flights and packages
make this a rich men and women’s tournament full stop
and where through it all
England try once more to not be too embarassed

so welcome to a Winter World Cup
welcome back to FIFA : (‘Failing In Football Always’?)
let’s say another hello
to their ever-big money-making-and corrupt-ego-fest
welcome to Qatar
a place that controls 13% of global oil reserves
where players will still tackle ridiculous heat
where temperatures reach 25C (77F) in November and December
where human rights barely exist
where being LGBTQ means nothing but a life in fear
where same sex relationships are illegal
where long-unheeded dangerous working conditions
for poorly paid and exploited migrants
has brought suffering debt and death
where alcohol is restricted in public places
and where their strict laws on public behaviour (including swearing)
make us ponder if old-chesnuts like:
‘your support is f****** sh** will make the cut ?

so here we are …as ever…confused angry and disappointed
on how-post Blatter and Platini
our once-People’s Game plummets to further depths
and we ask what’s changed…four years on
but just like Russia and South Africa…
the question arises again
Qatar… will we watch or not
and equally will we write poems about it ?
the football that is

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/news/poem-tags/world-cup-2022/