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Reflected Glories

Harry Owen

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Reflect me some glory, reflect me some fame,
reflect me the taste of the Beautiful Game.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Reflect me some honour, reflect me some style,
reflect me the talent, the vision, the guile,

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 that intangible something, the gift beyond price,
instinctive, elusive, the throw of the dice

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 that produces the winner whose every touch
is Brazilian, or German, Italian or Dutch.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Reflect me a Pele, a suave Beckenbauer,
a Charlton, a Shearer, the man of the hour.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Reflect me a taste of their talent, their will,
reflect me their stardom, their footballing skill.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Reflect me Cup Finals and Premier League wins,
the lifestyle of monarchs, forgiveness of sins.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 Reflect me the dazzle, reflect me the wealth,
prolonged adulation, the fitness, the health –

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 you heroes, you superstars, talents sublime,
reflect me, reflect me, reflect me your time!

10 Leave a comment on verse 10 0 Then reflect me reflection, reflect me a look
at myself in the mirror, my page in the book.

11 Leave a comment on verse 11 0 Reflect me the moment to study my face
and accept that I haven’t the skill or the pace

12 Leave a comment on verse 12 0 of a Rooney, Robinho, Ronaldo, Gerrard,
but there just may be something of equal regard:

13 Leave a comment on verse 13 0 a talent less public, unsullied by glare,
of the countryside, writing, of teaching and care.

14 Leave a comment on verse 14 0 Yours are skills of the finest, real footballing bliss,
and I wish I possessed them – but let me say this:

15 Leave a comment on verse 15 0 Mine’s a gift no less worthy, a gift no less true,
so allow me the chance to reflect it … to you.

16 Leave a comment on verse 16 0 Harry Owen

Notes

EDITOR NOTE: Harry is Cheshire’s first Poet Loreate. Visit his website at www.harry-owen.co.uk and www.myspace.com/harrythepoet
I had the pleasure of working and chatting with Harry recently at a poetry gig in Nantwich. He spent several years in California as an English teacher and soccer coach before returning to Liverpool in 1982. For more than ten years he taught in the inner city before eventually moving toCheshire.
Despite (or perhaps because of) his urban background, he has a deep love of the countryside and the natural environment, often spending his holidays in such tranquil locations as West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Harry now lives and works in Grahamstown ,South Africa.
His new book of poetry on marriage is amazing.I read it from cover to cover in a weirdly silent railway carriage full of downcast Spurs fans coming home via Stoke! Harry Owen’s first full poetry collection, Searching for Machynlleth, is now in its third (limited) edition commemorating his Showcase event at the 2003 Chester Literature Festival. His second, The Music of Ourselves, is centred on Harry’s year as the Cheshire Poet Laureate and provides an excellent introduction to his work.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/reflected-glories/