The Nic Nait screamer
The ‘poster’ sigh;
Today we live
Tomorrow die.
Priddis slow weaving
Through Cats’ shortened arms;
The memory of Didda*
The cursing of Harms.
The battler rises
With goals from Dalziell;
In brief shining moments
We’re as old as we feel.
Mad bastards in jumpers
Running backwards with Waters;
Careless lunges for glory
In a life growing shorter.
Shared thermos of coffee
The freshly cooked cake;
Licking sugar from fingers
Deserved half-time bake.
The gnawing frustration
At things that don’t matter;
Releasing my fury
With yelling and banter.
When I’m tired and lost
There’s the marking of Glass;
On Horatio’s bridge
No evil shall pass.
The sorry last quarter
Stand proud – clap them off;
Win like a peasant
Lose like a toff.
Slow trudge to the car
Stop for yiros and beer;
The replay’s deleted
There’s always next year.
*In the last year we lost both the Avenging Eagle’s beloved father (in Croatian her ‘Didda’) who came to the footy with us until his final years; and my mum who died of mesothelioma in Adelaide. In my heart the footy is always a celebration of family; shared occasions like early games with my grandparents; enduring hope and eventual passing.
I have been reading Bruce Dawe’s wonderful poetry anthology “Sometimes Gladness” (can’t you tell), and this piece started out to be a comment on Sean Curtain’s brilliant “Things I love about footy” post and the always generous Almanacker response. Sherrin soup for the soul.
When all else fails, there’s always doggerel.
Sorry Pete, all else has failed*.
*Except of course, love of family. Sorry for your losses, mate.
No reference to the Purple Eagle Eaters* at all PB?
*Purple Scum
Sean – This was things I love about footy – win or lose.
Seasons – As to that last line, nothing personal, but next year is going to be worse than this one and the one after worse again. Oniy the Saints and Melbourne can hold the Eagles off the bottom for the foreseeable future. I can only see improvement or slow decline from a high base in the other 15 – and Ken Hinkley has already got a job.