Football meets Poetry

There was the small matter of how Ryan knew close to nothing about football in the first place. That it was dull, was fairly an accurate guess - and I was in agreement with him. His love for rampant nationalism when it didn't involve guns however, had to win out in the end.

"The World Cup is a time to indulge in stereo-typing and loads of name-calling in pubs across the world anyway!"

Excellent. he'd found himself another reason then.

Five of his poems feature in a collaborative project developed by Dave Coates and Al innes that list 32 poems, one for each of 32 competing nations. Dear Ry, I'm especially proud of you this time. Much cooler than being able to out-drink me!

All the poems are available to read online at http://worldcuppoems.wordpress.com

Most are heartbreakingly lovely, and all in all, a wonderful project that captured my interest enough for me to want to share it here. My own favourite was the poetry of Sasha de Buyl-Pisco, especially her GHANA.

Excerpt:

GHANA
Manatee

‘How it happened that bird woman became
fish woman is unknown yet. Among the
hypotheses a Latin transcription mistake,
from pennis (feathers) into pinnis (fins).’

Bird-woman didn’t know water,
had never tasted sea. Landlocked,
sky bound – no man would ever spy her in the
noonday wink of hunger and sun and think
mermaid. She came from air, from tree.

Her wings were freedom, her sky everything.
When she was struck down, she thought the sky
had rejected her, a lover grown bored and
her left forced to move on feet unused
to gait or step. Picking a direction,
she walked until she found shore.

Here, the blue fell downwards, and mirrored
up in confusion. Bird-woman saw two suns,
two sets of sky reflecting. The second seemed
colder and more solid; grounded.
When she was held up to her waist
cradled by this heavy sky, she found
she had no need for wings.

Sasha de Buyl-Pisco

The project that started out on a website is now a published anthology of poetry available for purchase here.

WHY WORLD CUP POETRY?

There are only a few events that truly catch the world’s attention. Maybe the Olympic Games, or the Haitian Earthquake Appeal. Maybe even Avatar. The World Cup is unique among sporting events. Unlike the Olympics, where the best-funded, best-equipped athletes usually come out on top, the World Cup rewards positive play. The biggest teams are there, the Italians face off against the Brazilians, but occasionally a second-tier team pulls off a minor upset. Maybe in a penalty shoot-out, maybe a goal-keeping blunder. Whatever transpires, it is on the World stage, with the eyes of every country fixed on it. What makes poetry so powerful is that it has the ability to reflect that attention back onto those taking part, onto the people and places around the globe who make up the store of memories and myths.

But the real magic of the World Cup is the fact that millions around the world are focused on one place, in one time. We hope this collection can take that magic, the magic of following your home team or adopted heroes, minnows and giants alike, and bring it to life through poetry. If people take something from a riddling 11-line poem, or climb inside a 22-line narrative and walk around, they may find something that moves them. We hope that both football fans and non-football fans can realise that the World Cup is about more than football, it’s a house party in the global village, and we’re all invited. Paperback: 36 pages

Published: 18 July 2010
Author: Multiple Authors (see below)
Genre: Poetry
Cover: Ericka Duffy
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1907811050