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You Are Like Football

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 you are like football the grace and thrill
you are excitement a beach in Brazil
you are a stadium theatre of light
you are a temple brilliant as night
you are like football the way you endure
like flowers in deserts where rain falls no more

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 you are a hero a star in my side
bursting with passion and flowing with pride
you are like longing a fan and a friend
you are an artist a song without end
you are a poem a page without lines
you are a dancer in games without time
you are a photograph over my bed
you are a football that spins in my head

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 you are the final the ultimate sound
you are a hush that descends on the ground
you are a heartbeat when time won’t stand still
you are a shoot-out where nerves threaten skill
you are like football the way you pass by
a second a moment a glance or a sigh

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 but more than some outcome and more than the score
more than the feeling those minutes before
more than your love or your soul or your breath
more than this question of life and of death
here in your presence I am entwined
for you are like football forever through time

Notes

A Note from the Editors:
HOW YOU CAN HELP THIS CHRISTMAS WITH BOOK PURCHASES TO SUPPORT & CREATE THE NEW SITE IN 2015

I’ve been trawling though my book ‘Inner Goal’ for poems/
/haiku never published here on this site. The above is one.
Shameless merchandising maybe, but we have a boxful left .Grab a copy and support the site!

Inner Goal:The Poetry of Football..a Journey in Rhyme
by Crispin Thomas

Paperback – Illustrated, Publ. Oct 2007~Football Poets Books.
Digitally Printed by KTP Printers Ltd ~Thank you Kevin Raymond..

Was £8.99 Now available £5.91! (incl of postage)
All proceeds to Football Poets website re-build costs

Purchasing direct from Football Poets .
We do not have facility for Credit/Debit cards.
If you can purchase a copy BY CHEQUE direct from Football Poets, every penny goes into Football Poets site re-build/re-vamp costs in the New Year.

PAYMENT BY CHEQUE
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TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON/PAY PAL /CARDS etc;
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Click here to purchase Inner Goal on Amazon.

A rhythmic moving feast for football lovers everywhere both young and old. From rattles and rosettes to women’s football and the trenches. Fantasy salaries and racism to mobile phones for goalposts. Spanning fifty years of watching and ten years of writing, Inner Goal is an affectionate and perceptive nod to the People’s Game in verse. A long-overdue hard-copy debut from football’s maverick performance poet featuring 75 poignant poems, 65 heart-warming haikus on 100 pages and charming hand-drawn illustrations from the author.

What They’re Saying about Inner Goal ~ Reviews

“The beautiful game in all its guises in the street, in the ground, in the memory, in the heart. Poetry with balls”.
Michael Foreman (Writer & Illustrator/War Game etc))

“More tricks than Joe Cole, the man’s performances are match-winning. More and louder!”
Jim Sells~Reading The Game / National Literacy Trust

“More than a touch of the John Cooper Clarke” Big Issue

“One of those amazing people with an obsessive passion and love, who can move people!” Steve Wickham / The Waterboys

“What chance of filling a book with football poetry , much of it intended for performance, and making it a satisfying read? Chances were slim until I saw Crispin Thomas’ Inner Goal. It’s a whimsical book, swinging from nostalgia for Crispin’s footie heroes from the 50s to sharp criticism of racism to environmental issues. All the while he dresses everything in a deceptive fluffy aura and slips in some sweet subversive ideas. Simplicity is his key to writing and what makes this book a succcess. Many have been read at workshops run by Crispin at football clubs like Chelsea, getting children to write as part of the Kick it Out campaign, and the resulting quick , point making poems work well in that context. At their best , the poems have an aura of childlike awe and joy in the game and its exponents and the possibilities that such an international language of ball-kicking opens up – and when that happens , he really could be “swapping shirts with Shakespeare”. Adam Horovitz. ~ Poet/Author

“The Red Bard approves! *****
“Years of being a dedicated follower of football, coupled with an acute instinct for verse is a recipe for success. You will laugh, cry (almost), wish you were back in another time when football was less about money … in fact you will go the full distance on the old “emotional rollercoaster”. This is a great effort by Crispin and after dedicating so much of his free time to his baby, namely, The Football Poets website, he deserves all the success in the world.
No matter which team you support, you will enjoy this book. Crispin manages to stay original in his subject matter throughout. I won’t mention favourites at this point, as I am still enjoying reading and re-reading. This might even make you get your quill out and have a go yourself ..Crispin, note those five stars !” Mark Thomas

“A Celebration!
Our football offers up a love that many of us feel but can’t quite express in words. Now we can. ” S. M. Parr.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/you-are-like-football-2/