Intervention, Quarter Finals

Intervention, Quarter Finals


Hand of God, hand of Luis
Suarez, hand of fate, destiny,
desperation, immorality, hand
that gave Uruguay one more

roll in the last minute
of the last extra time, hands
and feet, the idea of keeping
hands away in foot not hand

ball, in the moment of defeat
what rules apply? Hero or
villain, Ghana’s Gyan hitting
the cross bar on the penalty,

bitter pill, even in foot the ball
does not drop, even in foot
a Brazilian turns to frozen jelly
while the Dutchman flies; order

of bets turns upside down, or
is Brazil just another beautiful
play become four act tragedy,
specialists of the quarter final

exit, or am I just fussing about
football when gross
international production
dips during World Cup games

except in broadcast, soft drinks,
tee shirts, vuvuzelas, plane
tickets and all sorts
of paraphernalia, including

pictures of players’
significant others? This
is business for some and
yet in Cape Coast, in Accra,

what are gentlemen saying
in high life bars? If we
had the chance to stop
the wrecking ball with

our hands and save goal
and country we too like that
bad cat from Uruguay would
break Good Lord FIFA’s rules?

Indran Amirthanayagam, July 2, 2010