Kevin Graham with A Celtic State of Mind – Poet’s Corner: The Stands

I watch on as the cameras film.
I read thousands of printed press lies.
I hear countless meaningless words spoken,
that continue to demonize us.

The ones who keep the game alive,
the reason it’s all commercialised.

Filming our banners,
filming our celebrations,
filming our smoke to advertise,
sales, subscriptions and season tickets.

With prices that see the working class ostracised,
from the places, we gather.
The places our fathers gathered.

The places our grandfathers gathered
when the famine’s cruel cold wind blew them
without choice
from their homes.

The collective gave them a voice,
when authority gave them none and
continues to give us none.

These are places they can’t colonise,
celebrating our team and culture.
Where the abuse and sneers
only galvanise, those coming from
different backgrounds and
different lands.

Defeat only happens on the pitch, never in the stands

Kevin Graham 2019