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On Hearing the News

Peter Goulding

Sunday, June 12th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 I woke up in a fearful sweat,
Unnerved by some subconscious threat.
My violent perspiration wet
The pillow and the bedding.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 My mind came under fierce attack,
Bombarded by relentless flak,
As though the Devil, clad in black,
Across my grave was treading.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Although my head was dull and blurred,
I ached to hear the spoken word.
I turned on RTE and heard
The news that I’d been dreading.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 I knew that no-one thought it odd
That Kevin Doyle, the Son of God,
Who walked where no-one else had trod
To England now was heading.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 But still I’d hoped that he might stay,
Decide he wouldn’t go away,
For who will now step up to play
Those balls that he’d been threading?

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 I looked back on his Cork career,
The goals ‘gainst Bohs loomed large and clear.
Oh how I hadn’t cared to hear
How fast his fame was spreading!

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Brought on and given space by Pat,
He soon discovered where it’s at,
And signed a detailed contract that
Is only fit for shredding.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Nijmegen suffered at his hands,
His prowess spread through many lands.
The hero-worship of the stands
Is what the Doyler’s shedding.

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 For Kev had been engaged to Cork,
Despite the lewd, abusive talk.
The two were linked like knife and fork,
Or bridesmaids at a wedding.

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 As many people have expressed,
We’ll miss his keen and youthful zest,
But still, we wish him all the best
As he heads off to Reading.

© Peter Goulding 12th June 2005

Notes

Kevin Doyle, Cork’s hero, has been snapped up by Steve Coppell at Reading.
Written on request from the Cork fanzine I.W.O.T.O.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/on-hearing-the-news/