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Westward Ho all stars

Neale Blackburn

Friday, January 10th, 2003

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Using all of the daylight and the start of the darkness
Imagination and energy made up for the starkness.
Replica kit in two colours a blue or a red
You could only get a green to play goalie instead.
The bare patch of scrub grass in permanent shade
The Cricket club shelter goal nets ready made
Became the world’s great stadia in minds as our team
Took to the field in pursuit of the dream
Trannie Commentary Jones and Butler we heard.
No Sky or live TV games we hung on each word
And we dreamt during play that we were a part
Of the poetic artistry they wrapped round our hearts.
Though I waited to stand on the Great Lever End
We’d been playing there years me and my friends.
In between stints at the venues on trips that we took
Round grounds we plucked from the blue Rothman’s book
After features in Shoot the one football magazine
Keegans, Bettigas, Beckenbauers could often be seen
turning up around ours to showcase their skills.
Our continuous exposure to space dust and big chills
Gave us all that we needed of the energy isotonic
As we beat them hollow and made them look chronic
Awestruck and shaken they would leave in dismay
As Westward Ho all Stars brushed them away.
Three and in, FA Cup, Penalties, kickin in
Made little difference as Casey ball clattered on tin.
We complained no live games on TV was wrong
Never dreamt of games consoles unless you count pong
And only thought of PC when up to owt wrong.
Our Ram was fully charged our hard drives whizzing
Our processors counting the minutes of quizzing
Before the next big fixture in the permanent season
Was played out on the scrub patch that for some reason
Takes pride of place in my football memory stack
Though its been twenty years since I last went back
It was there that the best lesson of all
All that you need is a bit o space and a ball.

© norm the jedi 2003

Notes

A few childhood rememberings and the question struck
Are my kids better off for all the ‘progress’ I’ve witnessed or was imagination and a rationed supply of desires a better combination?

Big Chills were also called jubblies big pyramid shaped Ice pops
Jones and Butler were the radio commentators of my youth
Pong was and is a binatone tennis game the height of technology
Shoot still is a magazine but then it was the only one

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/westward-ho-all-stars/