|

You’re Supposed to Be at Home

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Back when I lived in Blighty,
And went to football Grounds,
I’d sometimes hear a mocking chant
Around the place resound:

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 “You’re supposed to be at home.”
Away fans they would sing,
When their team was two, three, four up,
And heading for a win.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Myself I found no fault with that,
A mild, good-humoured taunt.
The home fans did not take offence,
Hurt caused was next to nought.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 But now I often hear these words
Said with a darker tone,
Directed at all kinds of folk,
Who’ve come from lands unknown.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 Perhaps their skin’s of darker hue,
Or eyes of different shape.
Maybe the women wear a veil,
To cover up their face.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 “Where are you from? Where really from?
You came here on a boat?
Get back, get back where you belong,
You’re s’posed to be at home.”

7 Leave a comment on verse 7 0 Once Integration was the word,
But that’s now been replaced.
Of Deportation some now talk,
And purity of race.

8 Leave a comment on verse 8 0 In Washington and London,
In Paris, Berlin, Rome,
Again that football chant is heard:
“You’re s’posed to be at home!”

9 Leave a comment on verse 9 0 11/11/24
Denys E. W. Jones

Notes

Self-explanatory, no particular footnote needed this time I think.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/youre-supposed-to-be-at-home/