|

Poetry Archives

Search Poems

So close to the exit gate

joe morris

Monday, July 1st, 2024

Oh woe, what torture,
What agony and purgatory
Why do we keep doing it
To ourselves?
Seconds away from the
Departure gate of
Euro2024 and suddenly
Jude did indeed
Take a sad song
And improve it
Most remarkably
But there we were
Waiting at the baggage carousel
Despairing of ever
Finding our suitcases
Probably in Munich
Or Frankfurt
But passports
Not required
Since Jude Bellingham
Saved our neck
When it looked
As if we were doomed
To Business class
On Virgin’s finest plane
Home again
For what seemed a lifetime
England were just clueless
Without even a glimpse
Of imagination in their
Mind set
Backwards, forwards, sideways
Vertical and horizontal
Slow waltzes in evidence
On the pitch,
Toothless,
Moody and melancholy
Static and statuesque
11 mannequins in
A German shop window
Military two steps at times
Passes destined
For nobody in particular
Stunted and blunted
Dull as ditchwater
England stuck in treacle
Even Slovakia made us
Look like a Hackney Marshes 11
Thank goodness Jude
Real Madrid’s most magnificent
Overhead bicycle kick
To treasure for ever
Wondrous leveller
From nowhere
Before Harry Kane
Underlined the signature
Moment of Jude’s life
And England’s salvation
The winner who
Nobody would ever
Have expected
How time stopped
For England
And how close
They were from
Coming home
Amid shame again
Yet still we go
Against Switzerland
Swiss, please don’t miss
Don’t roll over
With tummy tickled
Gareth Southgate’s
Possible last chance
Saloon
England let’s go

Be the first to leave a comment »

When England Take On Switzerland

Crispin Thomas

Monday, July 1st, 2024

when England take on Switzerland
who cares if we still have no plan
there are no dreaded warning signs
we’ve played them twenty seven times
how could we ever be undone
we haven’t lost since ‘81
a well-trained dog is all we need
to teach us how to hold a lead
so let’s relax it will be grand
when England take on Switzerland

oh Switzerland oh Switzerland
I’ll never ever understand
why blueberries with your muesli
could make you take the risk to ski
on mountains where an avalanche
could leave you clinging to some branch
your scary Alps your hairy bends
that sometimes seem to never end
I’ve never been their biggest fan
when driving round in Switzerland

your Heidis and your praline chocs
your cheese with holes in and your clocks
the Swiss Roll you did not invent
however tasty or well-meant
your longest tunnel that by chance
is longer than our one to France
the only decent thing you’ve done
is you invented Toblerone
we cannot lose and to a man
we will demolish Switzerland

when England take on Switzerland
we’ll pick up where we first began
in ’66 and all those times
we showed the world why we’re so fine
our history speaks for itself
look at the trophies on our shelf
we are the finest in the land
we’ve even got a brilliant band
the Sound of Music in our ears
I promise it won’t end in tears
no need for tactics or a code
when Southgate’s Army hit the road
And like some mighty caravan
we will roll over Switzerland

Be the first to leave a comment »

To Be An England Fan (After Slovakia)

Crispin Thomas

Monday, July 1st, 2024

exhausted watching you again
all through the years in sun and rain
from giant screens to my front room
with no-one else to share the gloom
the hope that never disappears
the sheer frustration and the tears
the last few kicks in all those games
when we were knocked out once again
as we watched on with head in hands
resigned to be an England fan

until tonight when just like you
I’ll never know how we got through
the agony to ecstasy
relieved yet undeserved to me
we’ve been here many times before
this boring stuff that we endure
the way we look so uninspired
from cautiousness to looking tired
and never will I understand
this fate to be an England fan

I don’t look forward any more
resigned to failure scared unsure
I’m lost for what to think or say
that might throw light upon our way
a coach who looks perplexed and drained
who waits too long in ev’ry game
who sticks by those who fail each time
ignoring talent on the line
but still I’ll never understand
the fate to be an England fan

my heart goes out to those out there
who follow England evrywhere
and somehow get to ev’ry game
all through the years in sun and rain
who work and save to stand and sing
through ups and downs through thick and thin
the hope that never disappears
the sheer frustration and the tears
the last few kicks in all those games
unitl we’re knocked out once again
but stil they stand with head in hands
resigned to be an England fan

Be the first to leave a comment »

It’s now or never

joe morris

Saturday, June 29th, 2024

So here we are England
The day before the
Morning mists welcome
The vicars and bicycles who
Trundle down long forgotten
Country lanes
The post man and woman
Cheerily whistle that
Inevitable victory
For Gareth Southgate’s
11 of the best
It’s now or never
Make or break
Obliterate Denmark,
Serbia and Slovenia
From your mind
This is judgment day
A weekend for nail
Biting, teeth chattering
Hiding behind sofas
And, of course Chesterfield
Now there’s a jolly witticism
Tomorrow’s world though,
It’s time to sit and up
And take notice
No more inquests
Back page investigations
Red top tabloid barbs
Childish nit picking
England, your country needs you
To just win
It’s knockout football
And you’re on
The cameras will be
Monitoring your every breath,
That crucial body language
This is the business end
Of Euro 2024
No more caution or fear
Sunday introspection
The group stage sparring
Is officially over
Time to don those
Decisive shooting boots
Of purple, green or yellow
Polka dot hue
And steamroller over
Slovakia
A country of five point four million
People or so we believe
Land locked between
Poland and Romania
Gareth, it’s a piece of cake
Slovakia, of course
Novices at this level
It can’t be that hard
England, surely not
Another struggle
And survival of the fittest
Let’s topple over this
Minor obstacle
But maybe not
Perhaps it’ll be
Complicated as
The Rubik’s Cube
90 minutes of huffing and puffing
Sweating and seething
Crashing into brick walls
No way through
Oh, England this
Eternal mystery,
Making mountains out of
Molehills
Refrain from these infuriating
Bouts of stage fright
Muddled thinking
On paper it should be
Like picking apples from trees
Simple as the times table
Or the ABC
England
That patchwork quilt
Of chocolate box meadows
And sprawling green fields
A picture postcard
From the village souvenir shop
Tomorrow we ask you kindly
Let’s hit the ground running
Immediately
No time for dithering, dallying,
Stepping on the ball indefinitely
Drawing cropped circles
On that green pasture of land
Of fertile German soil
Take Slovakia to the cleaners
We implore you to be ruthless,
Heartless, cruel to be kind
But for a while just models of
Callousness and brutality
But in a legal way of course
So Declan, Bukayo, Phil, Conor,
Marc and John guarding
At the back
Oh yes and Hey Jude
Take a sad song
And make it better
England’s ingenious inventor
Be ready and prepared
For Sunday services
Of triumphant melodies
Tomorrow our hearts
Will be with you
Unquestionably
We need a performance
Some kind of tune
Where hope springs eternal
And any suggestion
That football may be
Coming home

Be the first to leave a comment »

Don’t forget this

Gacina Bozidar

Wednesday, June 26th, 2024

Football is a part of life
The part of human life
There is not only football for itself

There is blindness of Croatian
fanatics who wanted Modric out
because of his age

The people are aging as well
The end of Croatian golden football generation and urgent need to change ?

The passionate national debate in the whole country

But the fans are also aging
There is universal human aging

Not only Modric and Brozovic
are getting old

The children who are born during some
World Cup or some Euro can potentialy watch the next one

There are also the old and new generations of the fans
Not only the old and new generations of the players in the national shirts

I would say to Modric
I know how you are overwhelmed by this debate everywhere around should you stay or should you go
But as in Holy Bible or as in Life
everyone is getting older
The people and players
The people with the players

Be the first to leave a comment »

England, oh England

joe morris

Wednesday, June 26th, 2024

Thank goodness for that
Unbearably slow
90 minutes of slow motion
England reduced to walking pace
Just strolling along the prom
Tedious as the Test Card
If only they’d finished
That last game of noughts
And crosses
Through to the next round
But, oh, for the doubts
Questions and reservations
Not nearly good enough
Against equally as sluggish
Slovenia
Surely the worst
Trio of displays
In Euros history
Still, top of their group
But then England gaze
Into the eyes
Of football’s
Distinguished European
Giants of the universe
And privately tremble
Italy, Spain, France,
Germany, even Portugal
On the evidence of last night
It’s a quick flight home
Back to this green and pleasant land
Not a hope, nor any sign
Of further progress
England, to all appearances
Like men tied together
With a thick rope
At times it felt like
A tug of war
Pulling and pushing
That Slovenian low
Block, Eastern bloc
Rather like pulling teeth
In that dentist’s chair
Go steady with those fillings
And gnashing molars
England, just painful and horrific
At times
Driving headlong into
Cul-de-sacs and
Infuriating traffic jams
Nowhere to go
Rice, Bellingham, Saka
And Foden too
Just trapped in
The land of nowhere
All tangled and twisted
Into a thousand knots
Hinting at goals
But just speculation and
Rumour, little
Concrete evidence
Of where this might lead
It could be
That Gareth’s 11
Could be testing the water
Palmer and Mainoo
Could they be the
Definitive answer?
England, jabbing and sparring
Tentatively and agonisingly
Sporadic hooks and upper cuts
But nothing that suggests
European Champions
We doubt it
Searching for treasures
And yet last night
Barricaded in
Entrances locked
Staggering and stumbling
Through dark alleyways
Italy, France, Germany,
Spain and Portugal
You can almost hear
Them giggling like
Schoolboys with
Victorious conkers
Sorry Gareth
Much more of last night
And it’s a plane
For Gareth Southgate
Your time may be up
We hope not

Be the first to leave a comment »

England Nil ~ England (Slovenia) Nil

Crispin Thomas

Wednesday, June 26th, 2024

ev’ry two or four years
we miraculously find ourselves here
in that oh so ‘English’ recurring semi-hopeful way
subjected to watching England at tournaments
usually on a screen

sometimes it feels like
being at some huge month long festival
in another country
where you find yourself
soaked in blind faith
strangely invested again
in an ever surreal
Groundhog Day type way
yet unable to explain quite why

and there you are in your local pub
or more likely on the sofa
or behind it cowering
cold drink Doritos with houmous and water in hand

and you’re there with endless pundits
and fellow fans in huge numbers
waiting all week for the main band you’ve come to see
but they don’t don’t show up
sound familiar? this was

Palmer and Mainoo aside…. what was that?

Maybe we are spoilt
maybe we need to have a reality check

either way watching England struggle again
against a resolute low-block Slovenian side
made watching Forest Green’s
last two relegation seasons seem amazing

Be the first to leave a comment »

Scots Dream Over

Crispin Thomas

Monday, June 24th, 2024

Scots dream over now

Tartan fire is not enough

finishing is all

Be the first to leave a comment »

Farewell, Scotland

joe morris

Sunday, June 23rd, 2024

They’ll always have their Hogmany
Auld Lang Syne
Amid the rousing skirl of
Heart warming bagpipes
But Scotland are on their
Way back home
The fading odours of
Whisky and a wee dram
Consolation none at all
This was never going
To be an easy watch
Since Germany were
Light years ahead
Of the noble cities
Such as Edinburgh and Glasgow
Dundee and Aberdeen
And Switzerland had only
To hear the Alpine flugelhorn
With tinkling cowbells
To leave the Sassenach spirits
With too many mountains
To climb and reach
Goodbye Tartan army
With your navy roars
Of historical
Flags of honour and
Gallantry, of course
Time to forget what
Might have been
The penalty that should
Have been given
All hypothesis
William Wallace,
Mary Queen of Scots,
Billy Connolly
Sean Connery
They’ll be raising a toast
In the lochs and glens
No shame or regret
Proud Bonny Scotland
But Hungary
Perhaps briefly doffing
A deferential cap
To the vastly incomparable
Puskas
He must have been foremost
In Budapest minds
A winner at the end

Be the first to leave a comment »

British European Airways {Flight 609

Steven Taylor

Sunday, June 23rd, 2024

It was pure coincidence that we were in Manchester
When news of the disaster broke. We’d gone by train

Me and Mum from Hyde Central

Our tickets bought from the Polish man
Who sat behind glass in a kiosk

He had fought for Britain in the War
And remained, marrying a widow from Heys
With a hairlip who might never have found
Someone otherwise

That’s what my auntie said

There was an emergency edition of the Evening News
Announcing many feared dead

In Manchester it was tea-time, nearly

In Munich, snow and people standing

The wet black ink of the newspaper
Smudged anything remotely pale

Mum’s cream coat with the big buttons
She’d dressed up for Manchester. The disaster

Be the first to leave a comment »

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/page/9/