Brian Mackey
The Process
Not often that you find
A vacant city lot
Suitable for football:
The pitch stable and mature
Blanked off and windowless at either end
And with eight or nine skinny boys
Playing sternly
Back and forth across the rubble.
The light is good:
Gable end and warehouse wall,
Faces, jerseys, nettles, and the punctured ball
Are very clear.
The shouting, too, is clarified:
Ambitious, chiding,
And distinct
Against the constant mild noise of traffic.
A minute is enough
To have found and then despaired of the game.
Without watching any more
You move away along the unguarded touchline,
Another part of you now
Disconnected from enthusiasm.
Page(s) 25
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