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What’s in a name

John Greeves

Tuesday, September 14th, 2004

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 I’ve had a doppleganger all my life,
Not that I looked like him,
but back then in the sixties,
I was on everyone’s lips.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 I’ve been subsumed through his name
become part of the Glory, Glory
chant of Spurs history.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 I’ve seen good and bad times
Learnt to love and hate them all at the same time.
Come to cherish those rare moments
when we beat that other team from north London.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 Pledged a lifetime commitment, for better or worse.
Believed in prophecy being a season away,
only to be cast down by false messiahs.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 My son’s got the bug as well, that’s football.
The other day he went to meet the other Jimmy Greeves
to catch up on old times.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 Decided to tell Jimmy the real meaning of a double
and he didn’t mean cups!
Explained how his dad had been living in a shadow.

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 “It’s not easy for him.
He’s like the legend that never played
sidelined in life to the bench like super-sub,
and lost to this moment in time.”

© John Greeves 14.9.04

Notes

My son presented me with a signed copy of Jimmy Greaves autobiography for my last birthday. This poem followed as a result.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/whats-in-a-name/