Day 8

The day you came to stay

The day you came to stay
was the day England played

and I'd been looking forward to seeing you so much
and I knew you'd be oblivious to the game going on

and if you had known I was missing it for you
you'd have felt so guilty

you'd have said of course I should watch the football
that you'd be happy to just read your book in the other room

but it wouldn't have felt right
so I just pretended it wasn't happening

which was easier than I had expected
because the moment I saw your face in the crowd at the train station

I completely forgot about everything else in the world
and walking back we didn't see a single person

the streets have never been so empty
we had the city to ourselves

you couldn't work out why and said 'Where is everyone?'
and I didn't want to say they're all in their homes

having barbecues and friends round, glued to the TV
so I said I didn't know

but that we should make the most of it
so we climbed on statues and ran through fountains

and I thought well if not now, then never
you said yes and just then the whole of England cheered.




I have a book of poetry you can buy for £5 here.