Gooner poem

I wrote a poem for the new men's football season and sent it in to legendary Arsenal fanzine The Gooner. They were kind enough to print it, so here it is. There was another version where we didn't buy anyone!

Here we go again

Here we go again.

Budgets were upended

And acquisitions defended,

But is our leaky backline mended?

It’s time to start again.

They’ve said it once again:

“Despite the loss we’re showing,

Our ambition is still growing”,

So are Raul’s transfers going

To make us good again?

Or will January find us, again,

Desperate for surrender,

When our panicking agenda

Is to re-sign Nicklas Bendtner

And make him a defender,

And we finish 5th again (or worse)?

But as we brace ourselves again,

Let’s not all go forgetting

A fact there’s no regretting,

And hope Arsenal Women can go netting

Their league title once again.

Wedding poem

Over the summer I wrote a poem for a friend's wedding, and was delighted to read it on the day as well. Here it is.

The Ones who Count

What came first:

The matter or the force?

Were we gifted love,

Or did we mistake its source?

Let’s ruminate

Upon the cause

With the ones who count.

If eternal -

Magical, charming - 

Cupid’s Arrow

Lightly disarming,

Then this betrays

A discarding

Of the power of counting.

For is it not the interaction,

The physics of the two?

The mathematical might

Of me times you?

Human orbits

We thought we knew,

Spun a new course.

Cheeky teasing

Or secrets held,

From snoozing to boozing,

These experiences meld.

It’s the chemistry

Between ourselves

That gives it form.

And if borne by numbers,

It can spark anywhere,

It is poised potential

In the time we share.

To love is to wake up,

And to declare

That everyone counts.

Repeated additions,

Of whatever amount,

Give life to love.

They bring it about.

Love can make neighbours kin,

But it is nothing without

The ones who count.