The Pugilist

by christopher   Feb 16, 2012


Spirited youth unbroken cultured on ringcraft of legend's: Ali, Dempsey, Louis "the lip", "rocky" Marciano and "sugar ray" Robinson. Body sculptured, his resolve tempered steele. A discipline equal to vocation.

Rising to greet the elements. Praying infinitely learned combinations; jab, jabjab, one two, one two three, straight right, step back cover, protect bob and weave, moving head side to side.
The pugilist thoughts blinkered, untamed. His body sinewy, taut as a fiddlers bow.

The pugilist bows to the ropes and dancing with grace on a springed stage: isolated, wearing only a blank stare. Weaknesses revealed to the frenetic crowd bellowing at ringside. All this: his ears belljars.

No hiding place; all of him vulnerable. Reflexes his only defence. Bell chimes, he steps out bobbing, weaving, jabs, double jab, one two three, right hook, left hook step back cover; and protects with a shield of bone and flesh.

A will of survival bourne through Eden. Crimson salted tears of sweat trickle down a chizled face.
Bell chimes for short grace , stumbles to stool, rusty bucket with still bloodied water, mint ointment smeard over eye sockets ,embraced and cajoled wiped down with a towel.

Bell chimes the pugilist enters Hades once again....

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Latest Comments

  • 13 years ago

    by Kiko

    I really like the idea of this poem, and you have a lot of nice phrases and boxing imagery tossed in here.

    The major problem I have with this, is that you spend half the time "telling" the story and half the time "showing" the story. When you are "telling" the story, it slows the poem down and makes it seem cliche. You also repeat things like "jabs" and "one two three," etc, which also makes the poem lose momentum.

    And, you should not use the word "pugilist" in the poem, since it is the title. The poem is about a pugilist, so every time you use that word, it loses some of its strength.

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