Summer

On Sunday
Goose came over
and we played shots in the back-yard.
Goose had five shots
and scored every time.
No matter how much I dived
I could never get near his
power-house drives.
Once, just before he kicked
I thought of yelling "Hey Herman!"
but I wouldn't do that
to my friend, would I?
Me and Goose talked about
school, and food, and
long summer weekends without soccer
which, as you may have guessed,
we're both obsessed with.
We talked about lots of things
but
neither Goose or me
had enough heart and strength
to mention yesterday's game.
Yesterday wasn't yesterday anymore.
It was last season.
We talked about next season.

                                    

The spangled drongo was my first novel (in verse) for children. It's about Sam, who lives with his Aunt Amshara (a bit of an old hippie!) Sam loves soccer - he even has a dog called Ronaldo. When Jessica moves next-door, she and Sam develop a friendship based on soccer, picnics on the roof, and the search for a spangled drongo. Not to mention the elusive prize of soccer's Federation Trophy. There are lots of other characters as well, including Parrot (who is a parrot), and Goose (who is a player on Sam and Jessica's soccer team.)