The Pullavur World Cup,2022 Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

For most of us in Kerala,
soccer is our religion, nothing less;
do not dare to argue with us on
our soccer heroes, you risk your life!

Pele, Paolo Maldini, Franz Beckenbauer,
David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Neymar Jr.,
Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Luis Suárez
Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo,
all our brethren, we love them all as we do
our local hero I.M. Vijayan, not an iota less!

The open rivalry between the ‘fans' of
the soccer teams of Argentina and Brazil
is no less vigorous than the possible rivalry
betwixt the two teams and people themselves.

Come the World Cup season
the football madness peaks, there's no escape.

This time a tiny village in Malappuram,
Pullavur, could not escape the fever:
It was Argentina who scored first,
of course through their ‘fans',
a cut-out of Messi stood thirty feet high
adorning a tiny islet in Pullavur River.

It didn't take long, before next to it
came up a forty-feet cut out of
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior,
for, if Argentina scores,
Brazil cannot be left behind.

Not everyone was surprised,
though Neymar would himself have,
when both the groups came together
to erect a taller cut out next to their heros',
of the great Cristiano Ronaldo.

For us, the musical rhythm of
Latin American football is our passion,
but the unmatched power of
European soccer is no less!

Do you still wonder, who won
The Pullavur World Cup,2022?
We won't answer you, guys
for you are soccer illiterate!