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Simply Socker

Clik The Mouse

Thursday, July 26th, 2001

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 No, not another spelling shocker
At least, not on my part
A bright yellow sweatshirt
‘Simply Socker’ motif
Writ in an arc
Following the curve, of an international symbol
Instantly recognisable
A piebald ball
Black and white panels, conjoined
Seamlessly together
Representing unity
And a shared love

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 The sweater encased a little girl
Hair in pony tails, tied with yellow ribbons
Red and blue tartan patterned dress
Over grey tracksuit bottoms
New shiny shoes
Her smaller brother, only just walking
Wearing her old baby shoes, shiny black, with little pink flowers
Playing together, keeping themselves amused
Their tired parents, flopped, across the seats
The mother, heavily pregnant
The father, neat and dapper
And, as it turned out, incredibly affectionate
A joy to watch, as he encouraged and soothed, offspring and wife
Different, to the majority of us (but also present : African and Asian mothers-to-be)
This family of Romance
Eastern European almost certainly
The mother / wife, in gypsy garb
Traditionally dressed –
Despite her obvious discomfort
Her composure impressed.
Hardly fans of the Bohs *
Though one never knows
Just how much they may have settled
In Dublin’s fair city
Where the football’s none too pretty.
Back to my observations
The scene : National Maternity Hospital
Foetal Assessment Unit
20-30 women, at various stages of pregnancy
Some there with partners
Some with children
Some alone
An expectant hush, hangs aloft
Where once, there would have been a nicotine haze
Some whisper
Some talk, in that deeply annoying way –
Loud enough to be heard, but not understood
Frustrating the eavesdroppers (conversation hoppers)
Some are silent
And some talk in foreign tongues
But all are welcome, in the land of the very little ones
Where we deliver, an expansion of the clan
Time to educate, every wayward football fan

Notes

Waiting on news of my own little number 3
Partly inspired by ‘Dark Horses’ by Livvy Hanks (aged 13)
* Bohs : Bohemians Football Club, one of Dublin’s top teams, nicknamed ‘The Gypsies’

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/simply-socker/