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Hungary and England

joe morris

Tuesday, June 14th, 2022

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Oh go on
One more time
Before we shut up shop
And lock up until
August
Football’s temporary
Holiday home
Must have its place in
The wider scheme of
Things
We must hope
Tonight Hungary
Will satisfy cravings
For more and more
Football, for some
A religion, others
A harmless obsession
But even
The Beautiful Game
Is in need of rest and
Recuperation, not
24/7, every day, week,
Month and nanosecond
Of our breathing
Waking consciousness
Flashing and flickering
All the time
So Hungary tonight
And please FIFA
And UEFA you must
Be able to draw the
Line. Of course
Football must be allowed
Its moment of reflection
And contemplation of
Last season’s historic deeds
But Hungary has to be
The concluding chapter of
The season
Remember instead
The virility and masculinity
Of Puskas, Czibor and Bozsik
Playing, toying, dragging
One way and then the other
Billy Wright’s men on that
Distant day in 1953
When a misty November
Afternoon swallowed up
English pride
Wembley engulfed
By Hungarian masterclass
England flattened 6-3
Magical Magyars
Memories of verve
And virtuosity,
Red Hungarian men
Playing with English
Standard bearers
Like rag dolls, puppets
On strings
Manipulated and then
Locked in the darkest
Cupboard,
Maybe they were marionettes
Who were just toys,
But now 2022 and Hungary
No more humiliation, thrashings
A devastation of degradation
Rest football
Just for a while
Gareth Southgate
Enjoy summer
Please

Notes

Hungary- England, tonight.

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/hungary-and-england/