Poetry Corner Kicks: Union 3 - Timbers 0

The win over the Portland Timbers was good news to Philadelphia Union fans. There was a long break between games and to come back with a win was truly welcome. We’ll see how next week’s game against Toronto FC goes without Edu, whose yellow card removed him from that one. In reflecting on the good news of a win, it brought to mind a poem that I always enjoy going back to: "The Good News", by David Yezzi. How might that poem look if reworked for the game against the Timbers I wonder? (Read the original here first!)

A friend calls, I invite, he came.
We sip a Dogfish, the good stuff, order him
A hot dog – no frills, our time is thin
Just 90 minutes.  It’s been
Ages since we saw a game

Two drinks in, we’ve seen a few shots
End up on the crossbar for both teams;
The Union have had a nasty rough patch, all year it seems,
At the River End, we commiserate,
Cupping our Dogfish in our hands

It’s great to see the Union, good to have these friends
Who feel the same as you about this year
While other teams seem fairer, you still cheer
For your small team that’s here
A hard season, but it’s not quite the end.

As if remembering that they aren’t horrendous
The Union, after no goals through forty-five
Suddenly came most fully alive
Wenger caught a scorer’s eyes
And scored a goal momentous

In that evening light, Nogueira scored too
After Wenger he scored another
His good fortune continued for our brother
In blue, from France, whose goal smothered
The Timbers and bid the visitors adieu

Nothing strange.  The game was done, that’s all.
The win was good news.  By morning, I
Couldn’t remember half the how’s and why’s
But I remembered the news: the win, the highs
The Union took the whole point haul.