Newspoem
4 September 2001
Ranjan Banerji

Boxers Boxing

So I'm running...trying not to look
at the world around me...trying not
to concentrate on my social face...
but just...just focusing on my feet
and their motion...when I happen to
go by the local Powerhouse...my gym
actually...and they've got ESPN on.
And I stop...and I pant...and look.

Two guys are beating each other up.
The camera jumps and weaves. Chaos
reigns in this impromptu bar brawl.
But there's no bar. It is the ESPN
set for interviews, I note with awe
as the two men crash down onto this
large granite table. It fails, and
they continue to grapple. "This is
FREE!!" I tell myself, "not pay per
view! They're just giving it away!
Stunning!" Such generosity is odd.

I start running again...again I put
my feet in motion...again I stretch
my legs...but my mind is still back
there in the studio...dodge...punch
high...jab...feint...block...CRASH!

Later I find out one said the other
was gay in another interview. Then
the other said something lewd about
the one's sister. Ah! ESPN! Drama!

http://espn.go.com/boxing/news/2001/0830/1246019.html

Newspoetry, the Whole Story