Melanie Browne- A Poem

The middleweight

one of them weighs a little less
he is shorter and so is his arm length
but he still remains,
the announcer says "uppercut" a lot,
Uppercut,
Uppercut,
Uppercut,
Uppercut,
now his nose is bleeding,
the announcer says he shouldn't
try to blow the blood from his nose,
boxing is fascinating
exotic like an albino tiger
or a stink flower
but the blood-
the blood is real
I love the drama
of the pep talk
they speak in a foreign
language but it means 
the same things,
don't give up
just one more round
the tissue is sticking
out of their nose
the redness on their brows
the towel around
their neck
they are patted and stroked
ice is merely symbolic
and serving no purpose
they are ready to rumble
ready to tremble
or pounce