Come on you Lions, (The Dockers), Irons, Glaziers, Blades, Pensioners, Red Devils, The Robins, The Bluebirds, The Terriers, The Tigers, Tractor Boys, Canaries, The Peacocks, The Foxes, Smoggies, The Pilgrims, The Lilywhites, The Invincibles, The Rs, The Millers, The Owls, The Potters, The Swans, The Throstles, The Baggies, The Hornets, The Monkees, The Toffees, The Addicks, The Chairboys, The Monkey Hangers, The Seagulls, The Rams, The Mariners, The Daniels.

~

Seagulls hang on the uplift draft above the cliff
Mariners head-out searching for 'addicks
Dockers turn to land to tidy the quay

Where heavy-footed swans swagger
On the updraft of the cliff’s lip hang seagulls
Mariners roam the waves

Smashing into surging ranks of the relentless green army
Rolling in from where Vikings came
Dockers retreat towards The Alex

Anomalous stags’ heads adorn the sea-sider’s walls
Once home to pirates, wild rovers
And other villains

Who made much work for glaziers
They gas about this evening's game
Dismiss the blues, now work is done

Citizens, pensioners, stand easy
For pre-match pints
Fresh from the brewers

And the final shots
Stuffed to the gills
The city foxes

Scour the bins for the biscuit
Men now laid to rest
Ghosts of past seasons roam

The town until
Throstles sing at dawn
Robins welcome the fresh sky

Blues evaporate
Hark! The humming of bees
Exploring the forest
Thick with hawthorn trees

~

n.b. A work in progress...

CLP 30/09/2023 appended 01/05/2024