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Football Time: Second Half

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.

Notes

It is nearly 20 years since I wrote Football Time …

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