“Internal Conflict, Eternal Enemy” by Candace Fong
right brain left brain
crease to crease contest
intuition takes on logic
faith is the referee
From my book Bullets from Bones
Boxing
All posts tagged Boxing
“Muhammad Ali – A Change is Gonna Come” by Paul Lovering
you wore the big belt and carried your medals
through the vigorous years of my life
so I made you my champion
adopted you for my own smart-ass demigod
colliding with culture and crashing convention
and I hung up your face on those troubling times
there you stood in all of your prizefighting finery
taunting us
rampant with arrogance and handsome conceit
your dark chestnut body chiseled
peak conditioned and pluperfect capable
dealing its deadly art
brutally beautifully
intricate footwork no heavyweight ring
has before or since seen
your long lightning reach
taking painfully accurate measure
of man after powerhouse man
with jab after knifepoint-sharp jab
splitting eyebrows and rattling chins
before loosing fast hammering flourishes
raining down real red-gloved ruin
delighting your grin and buckling their knees
until coup de grace blows send them crashing
like mighty felled trees to the canvas
flippant poetry
spilled from your lip into microphones
while cameras found the cocksure
that twinkled your eyes
there you stand in all of your champion’s finery
taunting us
still
From my book Bohemian Scents
“Prize Fight” by Albert Bloch
ego strides right on in
all Dan Post ostrich skin
tree-trunk legs and cleft chin
packing serious heat
hands rough as concrete
it yanks fate to its feet
now fate is no mark
it’s developed the dark
deadly skills of a shark
so fate doesn’t flinch
doesn’t back off an inch
and they clash in grim clinch
rain down mighty hard blows
toe-to-toe, nose-to-nose
fury builds as blood flows
after vicious long hours
fatigue overpowers
these broken-down towers
nodding cagey assent
they retreat this event
bearing deep discontent
I’m the one left to tend
them and see to their mend
though neither’s my friend
still I’ll wait for the rise
of new fight in their eyes
to learn who claims me prize
(originally posted March 2013)
“Ali Over Liston” by Igor Semekol
you wore the big belt and carried your medals
through the vigorous years of my life
so I made you my champion
adopted you for my own smart-ass demigod
colliding with culture and crashing convention
and I hung up your face on those troubling times
there you stood in all of your prizefighting finery
taunting us
rampant with arrogance and handsome conceit
your dark chestnut body chiseled
peak conditioned and pluperfect capable
dealing its deadly art
brutally, beautifully
intricate footwork no heavyweight ring
has before or since seen
your long lightning reach
taking painfully accurate measure
of man after powerhouse man
with jab after knifepoint-sharp jab
splitting eyebrows and rattling chins
before loosing fast hammering flourishes
raining down real red-gloved ruin
delighting your grin and buckling their knees
until coup de grace blows send them crashing
like mighty felled trees to the canvas
flippant poetry
spilled from your lip into microphones
while cameras found the cocksure
that twinkled your eyes
there you stand in all of your champion’s finery
taunting us
still
(originally posted April 2013)
“Inner Strength” by Sharon Cummings
I never feared men
a machismo thing born on
unkind city streets
but age and infirmity
shrivels all vanity
(originally posted January 2014)
Surrealist Image by Boxing HD Wallpapers
inane hateful diatribes
building up anger
aggression pulls taut
at the tendons
contractions of muscle
under politic skin
tensions twisting
prominent ropes
pulsing cords of the neck
bitter excess of bile
backs up into the brain
don the gloves
twenty ounces
of righteous red fists
beat the bag where it hangs
opposition in effigy
punishing blows
giving private release
better here all alone
in the basement
than up there among
all that impolite company
Image from pinterest.com
(My first attempt at the Jorio form)
right brain left brain
crease to crease contest
intuition takes on logic
faith is the referee
Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) vs. Sonny Liston 1964
Photo from wikipedia.org
heart gloved in each fist
muscle trained to find fury
mutual respect
Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill in “Rocky”
Photo from blogs.amctv.com
According to Mickey, who trained Rocky under
Such dire conditions that one had to wonder
If he’d get knocked dead,
But the wily Mick said,
“You’re gonna eat lightning! You’re gonna crap thunder!”
Muhammad Ali
Poster Photo from allposters.com
you wore the big belt and carried your medals
through the vigorous years of my life
so I made you my champion
adopted you for my own smart-ass demigod
colliding with culture and crashing convention
and I hung up your face on those troubling times
there you stood in all of your prizefighting finery
taunting us
rampant with arrogance and handsome conceit
your dark chestnut body chiseled
peak conditioned and pluperfect capable
dealing its deadly art
brutally, beautifully
intricate footwork no heavyweight ring
has before or since seen
your long lightning reach
taking painfully accurate measure
of man after powerhouse man
with jab after knifepoint-sharp jab
splitting eyebrows and rattling chins
before loosing fast hammering flourishes
raining down real red-gloved ruin
delighting your grin and buckling their knees
until coup de grace blows send them crashing
like mighty felled trees to the canvas
flippant poetry
spilled from your lip into microphones
while cameras found the cocksure
that twinkled your eyes
there you stand in all of your champion’s finery
taunting us
still
Poesy plus Polemics 