Mario Mainland
The Fighter
Updated: Mar 2
The fighter is down and the corner-man nods
but he knows the ringing in his head is wrong.
Behind the noise is a child's melancholy song
and his own silent soliloquy sung to the gods.
He said:
‘Come show us and save us and heal all our souls,
before her voice fades and falls to the canvass,
and before it's me, for whom the bell tolls.’
Then the fighter rises to his knees,
restored by the words the canvass breathes:
‘When the strong are gone, and the meek remain,
become the hero,
become the fighter before
the bravest of us have to go.’
-MM