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Mrs Norfolk Jim

Alex Saynor

Thursday, February 13th, 2014

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Mrs Norfolk Jim,
your husband met a Ukrainian
while you were shopping in a ‘fine city.’

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 He had too much integrity
to impregnate her with more than
footballing wisdom

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Penned in before a sea of black and orange,
he watched his team through a veil of netting;
saw Hangeland head us to Turin
and another mad journey for Norfolk Jim

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 He travelled to Donetsk via Istanbul,
Now it’s Italy through the Bay of Pigs,
Suez Canal or Firth of Forth:
From Yarmouth on a catamaran
if Ryanair diversify

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Tombland, Castle Mall, Unthank Road
Basel, Turin, Donetsk and Rome

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Where, O Annual Leave, is your sting?
Jim can’t remember what that phrase means
as he soars through its limits and lives on the wing.

© Alex Saynor 2014

Notes

This is about a Fulham fan (‘Norfolk Jim’) who always entertains with stories of his convoluted journeys to matches from his home near Norwich. During the 2009/10 Europa League campaign he was particularly on form- his travel arrangements bordered on the farcical at times as he sought the most economical deals in order to attend as many games as possible in all competitions, often involving bizarre journey times and stopovers at locations which were many miles out of the way. The game referred to here is the ‘Round of 32’ away leg at Shaktar Donetsk.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/mrs-norfolk-jim/