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End of an Era

mark merriman

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 At the Stadium of Light
they waited with bated
breath for the final whistle
from the Etihad.
Fans listened on their mobile phones,
to transistor radios
jammed to expectant ears
whilst down the road
grown men and women
left the stadium in droves,
many in tears, fearing
that they had blown it;
that 44 years of hurt
had not ended, that their
blue moon was sinking fast.
A Dzecko header gave them hope,
but a draw was not enough
and the reds prepared
to celebrate.
But wait!
A pass into Balotelli
who holds off his man
to find Sergio Aguerro
who jinks snake-hipped
past his marker to rifle
the ball into the back
of the Etihad net.
A cacophony of sound,
a wall of noise.
Lads in the living room
leaping with elation, jubilation,
celebrating with the nation:
truly a most amazing thing.

© mark merriman september 2004

Notes

In all my football supporting life I have never known a final day like it. Pure theatre. From the sublime to the ridiculous: poem on the one & only Joey Barton to follow shortly.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/end-of-an-era/