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Filled with Blue and White

Denys E. W. Jones

Sunday, March 16th, 2008

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 I never have been all that keen
On football on TV.
It’s not the same as being there,
As far as I can see.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 And yet I almost changed my mind
One wet and windy night –
The night my television screen
Was filled with Blue and White.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 It was on Wednesday Twelfth of March,
The Toffees v The Viola.
(Although since they were playing in red,
Something of a misnomer.)

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 A Channel called La Sette
Was showing the match live.
I sat down in my armchair,
And called out to my wife:

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 “Enough of academic work,
Give over reading Gissing.
Come take a look at Everton,
And see what you’ve been missing.”

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 We saw the Hallowed Rectangle.
We saw the floodlights bright.
And forty thousand Bluenoses
All psyched up for the fight.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 We heard the Gwladys Street End roar,
(Much louder than the Kop,
Where more often than not these days,
You can hear a pin drop.)

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 We’d lost two-nil in Florence,
Yet still we cherished hope
That we could sneak an early goal,
Then have ‘em on the ropes.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 For miracles have been performed –
Stones been turned into bread,
Clear water transformed into wine,
From tombs have rose the dead…

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Soon AJ made the breakthrough –
The ball in off his chest,
Arteta’s rocket made it two,
And you all know the rest:

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 We laid siege to the Tuscans’ goal,
But could not net a third.
So, Extra Time, then Penalties –
The Yak and Jag both erred!

12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 All over ‘em for two full hours,
Then go out on Spot-Kicks.
There is no justice in this world,
Don’t it just make you sick?

13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 We lost the match, but regained pride,
I’ll ne’er forget that night.
The night my television screen
Was tinted Blue and White.

14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 16/3/08
Denys E. W. Jones

© 16/3/08

Notes

12 March 2008, Uefa Cup tie, Everton beat Fiorentina 2-0, but go out on Penalties. Heartbreaking…

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/filled-with-blue-and-white/