Football

Curled up in a caravan
on a Scottish summer's day,
rain dripping down the windows,
the intermittent blast of a fog horn
reminding me of the presence of the sea.
Books fill the time
and are consumed rapidly.
When the pile brought from
Glasgow is diminished
any book will do in a storm.
One of these books was
"A lifetime in Paradise"
a caravan book,
left behind on the shelf,
during the empty months
when caravan living was
unpalatable.
The story of Jimmy McGrory,
a boy from Glasgow,
who grew up to play
for Celtic, and Scotland,
and who made Hampden roar!
An unlikely book
for a Rangers fan to
keep in his caravan,
but my Dad's deep
allegiance to Rangers
never narrowed his view
or love of football.
It is a beautiful game,
and McGrory revealed that
in the pages of his book.
At Hampden today
as the ball was
controlled
passed
dribbled
trapped
and shot home
by an on form
Motherwell team,
that beauty remains,
even in the middle of
a crowd where I often
feel I don't naturally fit,
but then neither did McGrory
as he threw himself
towards the ball,
to head home
a goal for Scotland
that made the
stadium erupt!