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Old Boy at the Match

mark merriman

Monday, October 24th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Peering myopically through thick
National Health lenses
the old boy watches the game,
perched precariously on red plastic seat.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Air filled not with expletives
but with pearls of wisdom;
reminders of a different era entirely:
wing halfs, inside forwards and outside rights.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Opening comment a joy:
“Come on Swindon, put on a show!”
As if he were at the theatre,
all the world’s a pitch.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Yet when you look at him
you just know the old boy is
kicking every ball, living every moment
to support the team he loves.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 A lifetime of devotion
to a team in red and white;
a lesson to all those
once a season wonders..

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 There he is every game,
filling moments of silence
with rare nuggets,
urging his team on.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 “Find your wingers,” another favourite;
rather wasted on a team
bereft of wide men, a team
who like to lump it long to the big man.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Then, last week-end,
an absolute classic:
“Swindon expects every man
to do his duty.”

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 Not resembling a sergeant-major
barking out his orders,
rather a doctor gently cajoling
a long-suffering patient.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Sadness behind those thick lenses
as the final whistle blows
and the old boy
shuffles slowly home.

© mark merriman 18 sept 2004

Notes

The chap who sits across the aisle from me at the County Ground is absolutely great. His one-liners fill the air; he has kept coming to all the home games when many others have long since given up.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/old-boy-at-the-match/