Poetry - January 2025

Replays? What Replays?

The third round of the FA Cup draws near
A weekend of potential shock results to come
But alas, no big money spinning games now
Because replays are scrapped, ho hum
It's all about what the big clubs want
And nothing about what the fans might wish to see
Seeing their beloved teams be taken to a second game
Against those who play part time in their county
How would you feel if you were Tamworth this year
Drawing after ninety minutes of intense play
Only to have to lose after extra time
And not get the money spinning Tottenham replay
It really does show a lack of foresight
And less of a level playing field for those that try
It devalues the FA Cup because the FA know sweet FA
And it just makes me feel so sad and cry.

(I love the FA Cup. But please, FA, stop messing around with the format, and get it back to replays if you draw the first game. The incentive for those who can live to fight another day is huge, and especially if you say got a last minute equaliser and a potential trip to a big club for the replay and the money it earns - or even avoiding extra time in match a la Tamworth and trying even harder to win it in normal time. Meh.)

Fiercely Finished

As I walked down Thomas Street
Between Christmas and New Year
I saw a sight I didn't want to really see
In that the closed sign was at Fierce Beer
I had spent many a Sunday afternoon with friends
With some of their lovely drinks on tap
And a place you could really relax and chill in
With proper beer and no hipster crap
They would always have a good low alcohol offering
If you did not want to drink so heavily
And their cerveza lager is one my love adores
Because the lime in it makes it so tasty
I'll wonder what comes up in the next few months
But it won't be the same, that's for sure
I'll need to wait to go Edinburgh or Aberdeen
For a pint of the Fierce beer that I adore.

(Times change sadly, and the loss of Fierce Beer's Manchester bar just before Christmas 2024 has bene felt heavily by me. I just wish I could get some of their beers - maybe I'll order them online...)

Nine Years

Walking through Brixton centre
So many people are here sighing
It's been a long time since the news
We've had nine years left to cry in
Everyone walked over to see
Life was really different
It never had felt the same since
David Bowie was taken and went
We heard his music everywhere
We saw his sound and vision there
Our brains were fed by his intelligence
And the lyrics he wrote made so much sense
And all the different people
And all the artistic people
And all the everybody people
We never thought their fans were so many people
We've had nine years, since he passed away
Nine years, what a bad day
We've had nine years, my heart hurts a lot
Nine years, and his loss was our lot.

(Hard to believe that the month after I moved for work, David Bowie passed away. The world hasn't quite been the same since in the nine years since he left us..)

Unbelievable

Being a teenager over thirty years ago
A song came along that was great fun
One that had you bounding around the dancefloor
Of the local indie club, and almost number one
EMF burst on to the music scene with their song
Unbelievable was its name
And everyone wanted to sing the chorus
Full blast as the dance floor filled again
Even now people my age regard it as a classic
Which is why we didn't appreciate
The likes of Rizzle Kicks ripping it off
In a song of theirs which was a state
It lost all the feeling of the original
And wanted to skip to the good bit
Well to be honest the good bit is the proper song
And the version they did was a pile of..

(The days of when everyone in the indie clubs of Manchester would bound around, pretend to slam keyboards and en masse sing "Unbelievable" - so hearing it used in such a poor modern day song really did rankle with me to say the least. Unbelievable!)

New Year Cat Haiku

Brian just loves it
Once all the fireworks have stopped
He can go to bed!

(Brian the cat will stay up and rest with The Love In My Heart and myself over New Year, but once all the fireworks have stopped and it's all quiet, he is super happy as he can go back to sleep. Awww.)