Poetry Day Ireland is an annual island-wide celebration of poetry which invites the nation to read, write, and share a poem on the day.
Presented by Poetry Ireland, the theme for this year is "Good Sports" celebrating the good sport in all of us, the drive to give it a go or to have a crack at it.
Read Katie Donovan's poem Winter Heroes below.
Winter Heroes
It comes to this:
a frozen Sunday
and a team of six.
We almost miss it
because I'm lost–
sleep deprived,
cursing soccer–
navigating Drimnagh.
How he races,
across the field–
this boy who's honed his skills,
suffered snubs, misses,
injuries, lumpy pitches,
slanted goalposts
and biased refs.
Once he's positioned
the stalled game
can proceed.
It's Cabo vs Bosco,
bony knees and green socks,
parents going mental
in the raw glare and gusts.
His team whirlwinds
through mucky tackles,
the lack of subs,
the unfair penalties,
studs hammering
across the turf.
Winter heroes, these:
outnumbered, away,
they take the game: 4:3.
(From Off Duty, Bloodaxe Books, 2016)
Find out more about Poetry Day Ireland here.
