Edited Highlights

Who needs all ninety minutes? You can watch
edited highlights - they’re more than enough:
The only things  that matter in a match,
all of it end to end, exciting stuff.
Do-or-die tackles, every pass spot on,
each shot a screamer fit to burst the net,
the Beautiful Game with all the dull bits gone
s what we want. The rest you can forget.

Off-screen, it’s different. Real life’s not about
winning the league, the lifting of a cup.
The moves break down, the build-ups fizzle out.
Hanging around when people don't turn up,
waiting to get the ball back from the crowd:
that's the real game. The bulk of it is dud.
The goals are flukes or cruelly disallowed.
Most of my life, I've slogged through midfield mud.