Armistice Day (2016)
¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Armistice Day (2016)
¶ 2
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The football’s on:
the derby of derbies.
a family fractioned into
halves and quarters;
but when the whistle blows,
I’m thinking of Bruce’s stone
and the battle of Glen Trool,
the remnants of the sessile
oak wood with its skeletal trees
soaking up grief from
corpses below.
¶ 3
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The football’s on:
the derby of derbies.
But when the whistle blows,
I’m thinking of the great war,
a world fractioned into
halves and quarters;
The no-man’s land match
that said we are everyman –
just the same
¶ 4
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The football’s on:
the derby of derbies.
But when the whistle blows
I’m thinking of all the splintering
isms, its, moans and ers
brexit, regrexit, remoaners,
racism, elitism, nationalism;
the lion rampant
of Scotland
and the three lions
of England
¶ 5
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The football’s on:
the derby of derbies.
The drum beats for one
and the pipes skirl for another
while the quarters fidget,
unsure which whole to join.
And all the while
the ancient oak wood endures
the bitter bile of division.
A wonderful poem. Profound and heartfelt.