An Arsenal blogger made this video in which he describes giving a letter to Arsene at a press conference. In the video, James talks about the impact Arsene had on him personally when he joined, how he not only brought such style and success but how Arsene also looked different, in a way which was quite personal to the young James.
That inspired the following poem. Thankfully I hadn't finished the whole thing before I realised that in form and content it was effectively a ballad and I rewrote it in that form (four beats, then three beats, repeating). It's called the Kid who Would.
The Kid who Would
Not so very long ago
And not so far away,
A child of 10, or so, he had
A game he used to play.
He’d kick a ball, out with his mates,
Fun, but plain to see….
Lost his glasses, misplaced his passes….
Thought, ‘maybe, not for me’.
For while he felt it had its charms,
Set off some inner spark,
The way things were, back there and then,
Left it in the dark.
A certain culture pervaded the sport,
Of ‘hard men’ who ‘played tough’.
He liked the game but all the same,
He felt not good enough.
And then one day some news arrived
At the club he liked to watch,
A new guy here to lead the team,
To turn things up a notch.
He pushed his glasses up his nose
To watch the announcement made.
Half-listening now, he wondered how
Much longer he’d play this game.
But when he saw the man they’d picked
He couldn’t believe his eyes:
Sharply dressed, odd accent,
Not the normal size.
A rangy, almost lanky, look,
Deep thoughts and quite complex.
However, the find that blew his mind -
He….WAS WEARING…..SPECS!
Specs! SPECS! Whatever next!
The spark it burst to flame.
He hopped about, began to shout:
‘Bring on the next game!’
First time round the new man brought
A double of League and Cup!
No longer boring, defenders scoring -
That sums it all up.
Little did he know, of course,
There was so much more to come:
Titles, finals, Invincibles,
The joy, the style, the fun.
Beauty and art came to this club,
Football sent from above,
But along the way, something else had changed:
Like had turned to love.
Inspired by the team he saw,
A thought struck him anew:
‘This man belongs, but he doesn’t play….
Maybe I can too’.
And so, he found his voice, his art,
A different kind of fan.
He told his jokes and amused some folks -
A different kind of man.
The years went by, until one day,
The end game came at last.
Now jester and king, they could not believe
That 22 years had passed.
The jester penned words, he wanted to tell
Of the journey and joys he’d had.
After reading the letter, the king felt better.
He thought, ‘that’s nice - I’m glad’.
Journey’s end is new journey’s start,
For jesters and for kings.
Slings and arrows test us all
And criticism, sometimes, stings.
But for hope, remember this,
The tale of The Kid who Could:
Of how Arsène inspired his pen
To become the The Kid who Would.
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