“After hearing another fantastic story from a parallel universe…”

I zoned out
Let’s be honest
Games and bread
Bread and games
The streets empty
Bar mopeds delivering readied meals
To houses where TVs fill walls
Fill front rooms
Fill the heads
Of green-eyed sofa fans
With logos, slogans
Aimed at men
(don’t give me that
…but women like it too…
you know its mostly men
Just look at the adverts)
Watching the laceless orb
Chased back and forth
From one night to the next
At weekends, both days
Lunchtime to teatime
Teatime to dinner
The repeated ringing
Of the cash register
Before the bass guitar
Lays down a steady bump
A single beat of the side drum
The reverberating guitar chord
The rhythm guitar joins
“Money!”
The singer moans
So there I was
In The Victoria
Neck craning to the raised screen
Draining a pint
Surrounded by men
Some of millions around the globe
Fixated on images
From Villa Park
Another oblong of dreams
Watching millionaires playing
Association Football
Aston Villa versus
Paris St Germain
“… high class travelling set”
The lyric mocks
We’re going nowhere until the final whistle
The booted players rush one way 
They spin, rush the other
Grains of sand falling
Through the neck of the timer
The coach, slicked, black hair
To match his slick black garb
Falls frustrated to his knees (again)
His comedic agonies
A sideline show to the circus
The man next to me
Engages in friendly chat
With our eyes fixed firmly on the action
He works
“…pay”
In the high-end travel biz
Where ‘clients’ have plenty
“cash”
Unable to shake the stuff off
It sticks to them
“…stash”
Accumulates faster than they can spend it
Even while sleeping it piles up
“…five thousand pounds, or more, a night.”
My football watching companion explains

Somewhere else in my head
The bass beat pounds along
It’s very catchy
You can dance to this
We all know the lyrics
We’ll join in with the line
When it’s time
Unthinking
When somewhere
Some individuals are actually saying
“…think I’ll buy myself
a football team”

~

n.b. This piece quotes lyrics from Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ and is prompted by NaPoWriMo 2025 Day 16 prompt.

Also full credit to Half Man Half Biscuit for the phrase ‘oblong of dreams’.

The title here is taken from a press article quoting PSG management’s opinions on a former player’s claim for unpaid wages amounting to €25 million, give or take a few cents. 

CLP 16/04/2025