|

A Stone’s Throw From Paradise

Peter Alexander

Thursday, May 22nd, 2003

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Lionhearts pounded the cage;
Blood coursed through veins
Like Clockwork Orange; a nation
Held it’s breath.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Deep into first half injury time,
A sucker punch goal
Punctured lungs. Then Larson,
From his small stature, rose;
Hung high in mid-air
Like a hummingbird; and arced
A perfect slow motion C
Into the top left hand corner,
Bulging the net. Cut to

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Glasgow, an East End pub:
Palm tree limbs
Bullet upright; hands,
Happy starfish; cursed mouths
Kissing strangers, men
They’d normally cross the street
To avoid. But

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Technicolour dreams faded
Into black and white reality:
Plucky Portugese perseverance
Stole a yard, broke our hearts. Heads
Plummetted like bingo wives;
Full foamy pints flattened.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Back to work.
Back to school.
Back to bland, grey,
Humdrum everyday.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Pow! A corner
Swung in from the left.
Pow! A bullet header
From you know who.
Pow! Two – yes, two – two.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Deep down inside, that feeling,
That once in a lifetime feeling,
Bubbled up to the surface, poised
On the tip of tongues:
I remember, I was there,
I watched it (on the telly).

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Eleven became ten; Porto
Writhed on the ground
Like balletic mud wrestlers.
Even then, we believed.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 But, you know the score:
They won, we didn’t;
Their names etched in silver,
Our faces wretched in pain.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Sometimes, giving your all
Is not enough.

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 A golden sunset
Slunk behind red sandstone,
Casting a shadow over East End bars,
A stone’s throw from Paradise.

Notes

As most people will be aware, Celtic lost 3-2 to Porto in the UEFA Cup Final. This poem, “A Stone’s Throw From Paradise”, is a follow up to “On Celtic Reaching The UEFA Cup Final”, which I also posted on out. I don’t normally write football poetry, but given the monumental efforts of Celtic, and the overwhelming support throughout the country, from fans of all teams, and non-fans of football, I felt compelled to celebrate Celtic’s achievements. Imagine what would have happened if Celtic actually won. Imagine …

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/a-stones-throw-from-paradise/