|

Domestic football downs its tools

joe morris

Monday, September 4th, 2023

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 For a week or two
Football becomes reflective
Gazing at the rippling waters
Of introspection, four games
Into the new Premier League season
And the same faces
Guises and disguises
Manchester City, Spurs
Arsenal of course
Liverpool and even West Ham
Improbably but welcome
Now though the international break
A pause for hiatus
Time for yet more emotion
And this time heartfelt
Poignancy,
England against Ukraine
You can almost feel
The lump in the throat
Pathos resounding through
Dark and broken streets
Charred ruins in our hearts
Ukraine, Ukraine
Always there for you
A country choked by suffering
England moved by football’s
Kindred spirits
This is football not war
Without Orwell’s shooting
Rather shooting on Euro
Qualifiers fields of glory
Of course we can smell
The burning embers
But we love our Ukrainian
Friends and allies
And always will
This Saturday football
Will link arms
In permanently warm
Entente cordiale
Brothers, cousins,
Aunties and nephews
Parents we shall never forget
And still remember
They too in Ukraine
Here in England
We feel the pain
Of shattered glass
That left nothing but shame
Flickering flames
Candles of hope
Rise again
England against Ukraine
Redemption again
Football on Saturday
Will heal and gain
Ukraine our thoughts
Will always be with you

Notes

An ode to England against Ukraine in Saturday’s 2024 Euro qualifier.

Tags:

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/domestic-football-downs-its-tools/