under the lights
he fought one last time
not because he was
done
but his body had started to
fail him
a brazen
younger fighter
looking to make a name
on his watch
slipped on sweat that
saturated the
war mat
heads found
each other
banged into
one another
wounded and dazed
the wiley fighter
confronted with a
bloody situation
groaned loudly
held his head down
and bit the mouth piece
before moving back
into
arms reach
upper cuts thrown
with bad intention
the cut
over his eye
would do him in
as he sat hunched over
in the corner
he asked the trainer
not to
quit
“i can’t see, but i
want to continue”
and so it went
for another
7 minutes
until the blood
stopped him
until the blood
exposed him
until the blood
and sweat
and tears
blinded him
