World Cup

The barber locked his shop at noon
Dragged a television to the street
Plastic chairs formed crooked rows
Where strangers claimed a common seat

A boy arrived with dusty trainers
Carrying a ball beneath his arm
Certain that the distant future
Had already written down his part

At the corner sat an old man
Watching pigeons cross the square
He remembered matches lost to history
That survived within him there

Across apartment blocks and farm roads
Across harbors, mills and trains
The same expectancy assembled
Like weather gathering before rain

For a month the earth grows smaller
Maps surrender line by line
Factory towns and coastal capitals
Share the very same design

For a month the earth grows smaller
Accents mingle in the air
A fisherman and a banker
Carry equal burdens there

The goalkeeper rubbed his gloves
The scoreboard glowed against the dark
One strike waited in the distance
Like a match beside dry bark

In a kitchen someone paused mid-sentence
At a station no one moved
Traffic lights changed without witnesses
Every gaze remained glued

Then a net received the football
And the city lost its shape
Car alarms joined the celebration
Windows shook for several blocks

For a month the earth grows smaller
Maps surrender line by line
Factory towns and coastal capitals
Share the very same design

For a month the earth grows smaller
Accents mingle in the air
A fisherman and a banker
Carry equal burdens there

A substitute becomes a headline
A favorite boards the flight back home
One photograph enters an archive
One mistake survives alone

Years proceed and faces alter
Stadiums receive new names
Yet old conversations still return
To those unforgettable games

For a month the earth grows smaller
Maps surrender line by line
Factory towns and coastal capitals
Share the very same design

For a month the earth grows smaller
Accents mingle in the air
A fisherman and a banker
Carry equal burdens there

Confetti drifted through the rainfall
The trophy climbed above the crowd
Morning found the streets exhausted
Though the night had spoken loud

And somewhere near an empty playground
After everyone had gone
A child placed a ball upon the grass
And carried the tournament on