The Euro 2012 finally finished tonight, as Spain beat Italy 4:0 in the final. Germany had already lost against Italy in the semi-finale this Thursday.
I did not really have any strong feelings about the final either way, since I don’t particularly care about either Spain or Italy with regards to football.
Nonetheless, I wanted to share two football poems which I wrote two years ago during the 2010 World Cup. Since both poems are about Germany losing, I didn’t want to post them before the end of the tournament.
The first one was written after Germany lost against Serbia during the group stage:
After the Match
Mournful the vuvuzela blows,
it’s over now, all over now.The car horns have fallen silent,
deserted are the streets,
huddled figures hurry home,
not a fan chant to be heard.And the once so proud
red, black and gold
now lies discarded in the gutter,
blown away by a stray gust of wind
like so many chances to win the cup.One more time, the soggy banner rises
defiantly flapping its last,
before it’s thrown, unceremoniously,
into the dustbin,
or maybe picked up and taken home
by some small child still blinded by hopeCause after the match
is before the next.
The second poem was written shortly before the final (in which Spain beat the Netherlands) and inspired by a trip to the supermarket that same morning.
Ausverkauf
Spanish sherry
Spanish olives
Serrano hamDutch gouda
Dutch cucumbers
Dutch tomatoesFor Sale!
30 % off!Payback for the finale.
Make-up
in black, red and gold
German flags
and vuvuzelas
60 % off!cause no one needs
them anymore.
If you like football poetry, also check out the bilingual blog Liniendichter/Score Lines by Christophe Fricker and Ian Watson, whose football poems inspired me to try my hand at football poetry in the first place.
sending...