VI
Sovereign

Gibbo had just recovered
from a flare-up
of epididymytis.
Two weeks with his balls on a cushion.
it wasn't the first time he'd been like this —
it's why the lads called him
the King of Bollocks —
but it was the first time he'd been sacked for it.

What time's match again?
He didn't want the lads to know,
even though he knew he'd be found out in the end,
that when the time came
and he couldn't buy his round
he'd have to laugh through wet eyes
clutching his sides, point fingers
and die a bit inside.