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Sonnet for George

Richard Williams

Sunday, February 2nd, 2025

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 You brought me first to my surrogate home,
we scaled well-worn steps to secure the view,
a white-lined pitch grown from this island’s loam,
barrier to lean on for my debut,
the crowd so large I could hardly believe,
a child so wide eyed just breathing it in,
such innocence then I was so naïve,
now each time I return the moment spins;
to those who’ve passed and the time in-between,
I’m pulled right back to my earlier years,
this field of memories of all I’ve seen,
and though you’re gone you are still with me here,
as the teams walk out and the Chimes begin,
and I raise my eyes to the sky and sing.

Notes

My step-grandfather took me to Fratton Park for my first game, a goalless draw against Reading in 1980.

I wrote this poem for him, and was able to include it in the programme when Portsmouth played Reading last year

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/sonnet-for-george/