! The Ultimate Hamburger Poem by Michael Shepherd

The great Hamburg football team
is to lay out a cemetery for supporters
next to its pitch – in the form, of course,
of another pitch whose grass
is eternal, whose goal is the final goal…

and then, the appropriate memorial inscriptions:
‘Heinz – the Referee blew time on December 15…’
‘At the end of the day, Gunther,
that’s what it’s all about…’

‘Joshi – scored his final goal on July 3…’
‘Fritz – took an early bath on October 14…’
‘Rikki – good to the last kick…’

‘ Alfi – now shouting in the terraces
on the other side…’
‘ Lorenz – always on God’s first team…’

‘Tomi – called to the great away fixture
in the sky on March 27…’
‘Birgit – my beloved home supporter…’

‘Denni – always in training…’
‘ Klaus – hung up his boots on May 15…’
‘Kurt – a life without a penalty…’

‘Bart – his final match drew to a close…’
‘My beloved Else – a Hamburger
tasty to the last bite…’
‘Reinhold – he played the field until the last…’

I think we’ll blow the whistle on this one now.