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Fight Night
by Kristina Woodhillin between midnight and dawn
insomnia and age my close companions
entertain with a wrestling match of covers or un
two blankets or one
to pillow or not
feigning sleep in one corner
challenging a dream rematch
as they go round for round
in search of some new position
that might keep these shoulders down
for the count
1 a.m. bell fight over?
only the gong in my battered mind
as wide eyes gaze hopefully
at the red slow, steady
silent clapping of digital figures
jeering from the side line
their measured torment
a drummer playing a funereal beat
to this undead
someone just hand me the digitalis!
now thats a clock punched number that could
let me meet the mat
2 a.m. - voices fade
the crowd wanders
weary of my weak wrap-kneed
stumbling performance
the corner stool gives brief relief
the bottled water quenches
what?
stretched out on the mat
and waving a white flag
I note with bleary eyes
light has faded the arena
to subtle sepia
an almost non-color,
peacefully sublime
the cool air has dried
the drenching sweat
the wet towel assuaged
the bruised ego
distant dogs punctuating barks cease
roads relieved of travelers droning treads
calm at last meets the nights soul
a sympathetic ref
counts me down to sleep
the show is over
two figures yawn and mutter
leaving the shadows
tossing their butts at the dark
ground stars to mark their way
see ya tomorrow night?
ya really think shes good
for another round?
Id bet money on it.
youre a sadist, johnny
pure and simple
yeah, yeah, yeah
she always puts up a good fight, ya know
spunk, shes got spunk
and Im just a sucker for an underdog
08/10/2006 Posted on 08/11/2006
Copyright © 2025 Kristina Woodhill
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 08/11/06 at 08:43 PM Hi Kristina. I'm at least ringside most nights. Excellent theme and treatment! |
| Posted by Christel Crews on 08/12/06 at 12:03 AM hmm.. a perfect description of something i know all too well :) great write! |
| Posted by Mara Meade on 08/13/06 at 12:42 AM This is menopause in a nutshell... Delightful to recognize some things here as my own issues, and wish I could have described it this way! MWAH! |
| Posted by David R Spellman on 08/14/06 at 12:42 AM Couldn't help but laugh and empathize with this duel. Such a world you create here between waking and sleep. Marvelous enactment of the struggle so well depicted with your vivid and humorous descriptions... Excellent! |
| Posted by Leslie Ann Eisenberg on 08/16/06 at 02:07 PM a classic. better with every read. i love poems about insomnia, and this is so orginally stated. i feel your pain, sister, but truly, the artistry here is what makes it so moving. this is what poetry is all about. quite an original take on this eternal/internal battle! PK |
| Posted by Christina Butcher on 12/01/06 at 08:03 PM this is a really cool piece!!!!! i enjoyed reading it from staart to finish. |
| Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 02/07/08 at 01:34 PM this poem is nothing short of amazement. you analogize it so well, the wee small hours when we are indeed in the fight of our lives and the prize is sleep, so slippery and evasive a character, I know, and no one ducks a punch better. |
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