KO
—inspired by the Lyoto Machida-Vitor
Belfort Fight, May 12, 2018
Below the jaw—no gentle punch,
A flying kick, a dental lunch;
Incisor, cuspid, bent to munch
A bitter flavor with a crunch.
Machida hailing from Brazil,
Where masses staring, glaring, still;
He passed his foe a snoozing pill,
Out-sassed his bruising, martial skill.
Extended in a fist made dense,
Blending more than flesh: intense;
Karma, justice, providence
Combine to form a force immense.
A great one knows the uphill climb;
His fate he grows—slow, grim, sublime—
As one dim truth attends the mind:
Akin, the loss and win combine.
No loss is solely evil then,
No win’s all holy, without sin.
A man will form and sack their Troy—
Employ the storm—a rare alloy.
Alec Ream is a writer living in Virginia. His poetic work and creative fiction have been widely published. A member of the Demosthenian Literary Society at UGA, he wrote on Lookout Mountain, and continued to write, lecture and work for Delta Kappa Epsilon HQ. He was first published reading to the pledge class of Michigan DKE, in Ann Arbor in 2008. Recently, his poem Green Fire was read at the Washington Literary Society & Debating Union at UVA.
Unfortunately for me, MMA events are now carried on a network to which I do not subscribe, so it was pleasant to get a glimpse of what I once enjoyed overmuch.
Same here – I’m off TV, except for the rec room where I live. Glad you enjoyed the words there, CB.
Like C.B. Anderson, I too do not subscribe. Your poem did pack a punch.
a Michigan State Spartan said the same thing 15 years ago about what I write: you’re in good company, and thanks for the read and remark Roy.
I enjoyed the staccato style of this martial encounter, loved the ultra-expressive term ‘a dental lunch’, and was much impressed with the philosophical last stanza, especially the two lines, ‘No loss is solely evil then, / No win’s all holy, without sin’. We should remind ourselves of this each time we participate in battles, verbal or otherwise.
Thanks for the read, Alec.
You’re welcome Paul – glad you enjoyed it.
I’m a closet UFC fan, although I came to appreciate the sport after this memorable fight. I really liked the reference to forming, then employing the storm to sack our Troys in the last couplet. The cycle never ends and the fight that ended Belfort’s career while starting Machida’s is one of many examples.
I’m not a UFC fan. But I’ve read quite a bit of literature (fact and fiction) on boxing. Your poem was vivid and had a moral as well. I think it can take its rightful place in the ranks of literature on fighting.
I’m also not a UFC fan (I don’t even know what the letters stand for), but I enjoyed your poem so much that I sort-of felt the pain, as I read it multiple times. I especially like the first and last stanzas.