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The Rout

Eugene Abrams

Thursday, July 28th, 2022

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 THE ROUT
The keeper leaning on his goalpost calls

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 to his full backs: ‘Boys, let’s stay alert!’
They turn, yawn at him and kick the dirt
Still, the tall one cups his hand and yells:
‘Don’t lose yer focus!’ to the laterals,

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 busy staring at the muddied shirt
of the central midfield, acting hurt
as his holding partner laughs and rolls

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 his eyes over toward the winger on the right
while to the left, his pendant checks the clock

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 The striker smiles: he’s knocked in four tonight

Notes

I actually wrote this poem as an experiment in representing the set-up of players on the pitch in the arrangement of lines of a poem, just a few days before Nunez scored four in a pre-season match for Liverpool. I think they say life imitates art…

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Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/the-rout/