|

Football Time: Second Half

Stuart Butler

Monday, September 2nd, 2013

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 I think the love for a football team
Transcends the oft quoted tribal loyalty,
And involves, instead, individuality,
Something subliminal within the personality –
For it’s all about the dreaded mortality:

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 On the one foot, football defines time
With the passage of the fixture list,
Taking each game as it comes,
One at a time; a calendar for the fan,
A clock ticking towards the grave,
With dusty collections of programmes in the attic,
The shelves of forgotten soccer annuals,
Fresh faced players turning into grey haired pundits,
The accelerating obituaries.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 But on the other foot, football defies time,
The heartfelt first time joy felt for a team
Reawakened with every passing cheerful moment,
Whenever Saturday or whenever comes:
Time is no longer linear; it becomes annular,
It doesn’t stand still, it runs backwards –
Women turn into girls and men into boys,
But if with adult rationality and maturity,
Then we can smile at the face of dismal mortality.

© Stuart Butler

Notes

It is nearly 20 years since I wrote Football Time …

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/football-time-second-half/