'Wednesday on a Friday
Bary Edge lives in Perth, Western Australia and is a regular columnist for onevalefan.
Barry’s latest poem is taken from Nodge’s post dated 28th December 2003.
Nodge’s story converted into this verse is my tribute to all those faithful supporters who follow Port Vale FC when playing away from home.
‘Wednesday on a Friday
It was Boxing Day, Two Thousand and Three
When we travelled up hill and down dale,
Our humour was high with Christmas cheer
And we were going to watch Port Vale.
Before we set out I topped up the core
Of my wonderful little Mini,
But in our haste to hit the road
It could well have been its fini.
With petrol and oil both checked as okay
We had time for a jimmy riddle,
Then we plotted a course towards the north east
On the road pass the Cat and Fiddle.
Then in the Derbyshire Hills where hamlets abound
And pubs serve to slow down your speed,
We stopped in a village near the Baslow pike,
But it wasn’t for a pint or a feed.
It was one of my mates who pointed and said
‘What’s that moisture on the bonnet?’
To which I replied in a casual tone
‘It’s just road water splashing upon it’
But it was more than that, as we were to find,
And darned lucky – if I may say,
For it seems when we left to journey north east
I’d put the cap on the core the wrong way.
So I flicked-up the bonnet to have a bo-peep
At the core of my Mini car,
Then I went to a pub just yards away
To get some fresh water in a jar.
Whilst explaining our plight the barman just smiled
In that way that makes you feel small,
‘Your excuse for stopping is the worst one yet,
And I thought that I had heard them all’.
With the engine still hot I topped up the core
Keeping an eye on the clock as I did,
And in the back of my mind I just knew that I would
Be spending a few extra quid.
With steam hissing forth, the gauge off the scale,
It was like a steam train leaving Rhyl,
But thankfully we bought a coolant supply
From a garage just down the hill.
Although it was Friday we made ‘Wednesday on time
And the result was a super one,
A win for the ‘Lads with the goals coming from
Messrs Brooker, Paynter and Littlejohn.
It was Boxing Day, Two Thousand and Three
When we travelled up hill and down dale,
Our humour was high with Christmas cheer
And we had just been to watch Port Vale.
Barry Edge
Western Australia
January 12, 2004
🙂