Saturday, November 08, 2008

@515 (2008)


He wakes me without fail at 515

for football practice 
with the boys of FC Sixth: 
 the sports club-come-
sarker team 

Waking me to practice 
feints and scissors;
 Waking me to practice 
volleys and sprints. 


 Shaking me 
Jumping on my back at 530, 
Eyes fixed and following the hands on a clock

("It's too early. We should fall back to sleep.")
 
But to us
this unearthly time holds more importance 
than 40 extra winks

It gives us power to 
cope with the Rest of the Day
with all His Idiocy
and Her Incomprehensibility
 
They surround our worlds

Right now though he shouts to me in excitement
And my body can no longer resist
Getting to the park

We move like sharks; we move like leopards
We move like vermin 
as we make the inevitable dash 
for the 711 ‘rice ball’

And the quick cycle dash to Toyama Park
 
Where he will strive for the next level, 
Where he will surpass my fading soccer skills 

 Association football grabbed his imagination 
and he won’t be satisfied 
until he can do more ‘kick-ups’ 
until he can do harder ‘rocket shots’ 
than me. 

It’s all good fun

But compared with mine childhood, 
council-housed with front-and-back gardens; 
1-parent waiting at home: 
it’s tough 

I won't lie.
Its tough

But still I wouldn’t change 

Him
Or 
Her 

for the world.  

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home