One day you’re in the ring.
Getting tossed around in front of a crowd_
They scream so loud you can’t hear your own mind.
You duck, and you dodge
You take another jab, add another hook,
Then suddenly you go blind by the sweat in your eyes
Blood and saliva course over your tongue
Iron in your throat every time you
Breathe in through your nostril, snot
Dripping down choking you out
You can taste every bit of your failure-
You know every bit of your weakness
This is intimate.
Those trembling ankles, they give out-
One more kick and a hard swipe takes you down.
No thought is strong enough to silence the mob.
And you’re on the floor staring into a light,
Or staring into your footprint, so close you can taste it.
Put your eye level with the crowd while you’re on the ground,
They’re standing up, shouting so loud.
Put your eye level with them,
While you’re on the ground.
Then you can realize…
You’re in the ring they paid to see
There’s a poster in their hands
But there is blood on yours.
They have a place to stand,
But you’re on the platform.
They showed up to see a fight,
But you showed up to be the fight.
