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Bobby Stokes

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 A man’s life defined in one ten second frame,
ball lightly traversing the canvass of sunlit grass
his moment unfolding with joyful certainty,
irrevocably recasting the parabola of his destiny

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Can there be any preparation for this elevation,
for the intensity of the localised recognition.
To bear the exquisite burden of tribal gratitude,
fame without reward, recognition without recompense

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Previous contributions now meaningless, forgotten;
expectation that miracles could be conjured weekly,
trapped by a benchmark, innocently self-imposed.
The need to relocate, refresh, a restlessness in play

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 1 The unexpected player, singled out by fate,
free-beered and backslapped, pointed to, stared at.
Each solitary cup goal scorer is listed on the record
of footballing immortality; in parenthesis, in perpetuity

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/bobby-stokes/