Football Poets

World Cup year

¶ 1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 So here we are
Four years henceforward
It’s World Cup year
That heady, dizzy
Global extravaganza
That footballing festival
Of fun, frolics and frivolity
An explosion of the sublime,
Skilful and the ridiculous
Art installations everywhere
Football on North American soil
And Central America
Thankfully this time
Free from human rights outrages
What a relief
Alcohol back on the menu
No forbidden, taboo beers
And lagers banned
From thirsty lips
That brief abstinence
In Qatar 2022
Now just a Saudi
Stringent law lifted
Like a disgraceful
Noose around the neck
Of football’s prettiest
Beauty pageant
The world in poetry
And motion
The most fluent outpouring
Of football’s
Greatest expressionists
No more political chicanery
Jiggery pokery
Certainly no evidence
Of doping scandals
Or devious drug taking
To enhance the profile
Of those exotic exhibitionists
Brazil, Spain, France
The World Cup holders Argentina
South America embracing the exquisite
It was always thus
Pampas and tango wearing the same
Colours of light blue and white
Stripes and earning them
And then England those
Passionate under achievers
Anti climax on their sleeves
Desperate disappointments
Quite regularly
Almost there but never quite
Denied and thwarted
Over and over again
Ever since Sir Alf from
Dagenham, ripped Ratin’s shirt
And demanded an apology
But never got one
So England won the World Cup
In 1966, it was always fated
To happen in dear Blighty
Nothing since so sadly and
Heartbreakingly
Shortly though
German thoroughness
And Teutonic efficiency
Will be spread out like
A carpet of ornate hopes
Thomas Tuchel for it was he
Who will speak on our behalf
A German in charge
Of the England football team
Surely the heaviest irony
Of them all
If Harry Kane can lift
The Jules Rimet trophy
In jovial July
But it’s time
To hold our breath
Closing millions of eyes
Hiding nervously
Behind ageless wardrobes
Mahogany cabinets
Perhaps drowning sorrows
In kitchens and gardens
Of boisterous booze
Vast rivers of alcohol
Flowing through whispering
Secretive streams
Of our fondest wishes
This time it’s Ghana,
Panama and Croatia
Panama again?
Surely not.
It has to be another half a dozen
For the road
Ghana, an unknown quantity
Africa still capable
Of surprises
And the greatest entertainers
Always never out of
Contention, true to
Enduring traditions
Theirs is the Beautiful Game
So be prepared for
The World Cup gathering of
Football’s most delicious
And delectable ball players
Treating a ball like
The dearest friend or
Member of your family
Passing with a pedigree
We have seen on countless occasions
Throughout the ages
Time honoured servants
Maybe this time
60 years later
Sir Geoff will pour
A brandy or two
In celebration of
Another World Cup
It’s been long overdue

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