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Football Poetry On The National Curriculum

P Maguire

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 When I was at secondary school all those years ago
In English I was taught Keats’ “Ode To A Grecian Urn”
And not one single word other than those in the title did I retain
But Rushie’s goals the style technique I’d practice practice
Practice until just one toe poke poachers goal I’d mastered
The tireless heart of Razor Kennedy his crosses I’d read
And willingly learned…

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 In English the subject I loved most whose language was rich with
Lennon’s sarky verbs and Lydon’s snarling adjectives these were the
Words that spoke loudest to me not those of Jane Austin’s
Pride and Prejudice who I was told is a genius but not compared to the
Gold of Dalglish who could trap a ball and then cajole by pure instinct alone
Now that was genius for me and it was he not Austin’s prose
Who thrilled my willing soul…

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 In English our teacher was alright, you could talk to him and in spaces
Between classes we’d talk the dark energy of Jim Morrison, the exploding
Freedom of Hendrix, the philosophy of Shankly and I would ask
“Sir why can’t we read about what we want to learn,
The way Kenny twists and turns, Lennon’s piercing honest words?”
But our teacher would smile and shake his head and point the way to the
Poems of Contemporary Poets instead….

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 I was a child of Liverpool and Rock & Roll and
Maggie Thatcher’s endless desperate lines of dole and our teacher
Would smile and shake his head and then he said
“You have to read what the Education Board Decrees”
But me (the bored) thought “Not for me” and left school as
Quickly as the door allowed and threw those “Essential reading” books in
A forgotten corner of an unused sold-off playground…

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/football-poetry-on-the-national-curriculum/?shared=email&msg=fail