Stewart Bartlam - Cricket at Adlestrop

Yes, I remember the result.
It was the hottest day
of the year. I sweltered
in a hot bath - illogically.

The radio crackled. The soap
slipped through my hands
into foam-filled water
while I changed wavebands.

What I heard
was Bangladesh - only the name
of the winning team. Australia,
incredibly, had lost the game.

And for that minute a car horn blared
close by, then a louder
claxon, and another. All the cars
of all the Bangladeshis of Peterborough.

(This is an oblique homage to 'Adlestrop' by Edward Thomas) .

Stewart Bartlam

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/cricket-at-adlestrop/