Football Poets

My Euro 24 Wall Chart

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 the George Cross flags are absent
no wild hysteria here
the local pubs are closing down
It’s hard to watch somewhere
but I’ve got all I need at home
before they kick a ball
my Euro 24 Wall Chart
is here upon my wall

¶ 2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 I feel like a little kid
my days are neatly planned
I’ll watch and listen to it all
with Sharpie pen in hand
in ’58 I had one
I stayed up late at night
saw Pelé on our first TV
right there in black and white

¶ 3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 and ev’ry golden tournament
the newspapers would share
their own exclusive Wall Chart
and I would get mine there
I’d keep the scores in felt tip
and fill them til the end
my Euros and my World Cup Charts
became my childhood friends

¶ 4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 and we’d re-live those matches
the new emerging stars
in Summers on our little streets
between the passing cars
but all those days are gone now
they’re long-gone memories
when we would play in roads and parks
with lamp-posts, coats and trees

¶ 5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 the years of disappointment
have taught us how to cope
as once again we feel inside
that dream belief and hope
and for a month we’ll live it all
through all that we perceive
and win or lose I know deep down
one thing makes me believe

¶ 6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 I’m talkin’ bout my Wall Chart
It’s blank upon my wall
but with my pen we’ve won it
before we kick a ball
and though the flags are absent
and wars fill heads with fear
and refugees risk ev’rything
we pray solutions near

¶ 7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 and I will follow England
and get behind Ukraine
and even shout for Scotland
ev’ry now and then
and we will all get drawn in
no matter what we say
the colour and the spectacle
the shocks along the way
and we will watch and listen
and we will kick each ball
and I will fill my Wall Chart
right here upon my wall

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