Football Poets

Autism FC

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 So here I am
First name on
The team sheet
Autism FC
Bursting with
Pride and satisfaction
Gratitude for who I am
The same as you
But different mindsets
Initially out on the wing
Then marginalised
By those who felt
I was surplus to requirements
A lonely child
But still in the manager’s plans
Free scoring in the reserves
But rejected as a defensive
Midfielder who sat back
And just surveyed, analysed
The wider picture
Those diagrams that made no sense
Diamond formations
Pressing high up the field
Dropping back again
Cautiously, carefully
Don’t risk the lethal counter attack
For I’m Autistic
And the game has geometries
That look like misshapen angles
But at the Higher End
Of Aspergers, the game
Has clarity and transparency
Structure and routine
The Beautiful Game
Indeed it is
Art on all its surfaces
Textures, deep within
For once there used to be
Empty playgrounds of your youth
During summer’s rehabilitation
You kicked your ball against
Concrete, soulless walls
Content with who you were
While rationalising with the world
Bloody Vietnam, the IRA
But you were on your own
Pretending to be Latchford,
Keegan, Francis, Barnes
And Coppell
Repeatedly and persistently
Striving for acceptance
And not knowing why
No care or concern
Since Autism was now your forte
Masquerading as one of Ron’s
22
A World Cup maestro
Dribbling through canopies
Of flailing legs, tackling
With your undiagnosed issues
Autism FC,
Your world was not theirs
But still you were left
With timeless images
Of goals that left us
Breathless, injury time
Winners when all hope
On the pitch seemed lost
You stood defiantly on
The Hammers South Bank
Oblivious to voices
Of meaningless defeat
And boundless joy
When FA Cups were won
In 1975 and 1980
Autistic in your heart,
Kidneys, liver, blood
Cells of red and white
You never questioned why
For life is precious
And sweet as candy
I recognise me
From a mile away
Left back, right back
Overlapping boldly
Into the unconquered
Territories
Hit it from 35 yards
And never be afraid
To venture into those
Autistic lands
Where nobody had marked you
Volleyed wondrously
From distance
Into goal after goal
Autism rules
I’ll always be who
You are
Let’s celebrate

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