Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom!
lethal blows
from every side

Boom! Boom!
faces swollen

Boom! Boom!
Duk’s still there

Boom! Boom!
with each blow
Ray splits him
open more

Boom! Boom!
he’s lifting
him up
round
after round
with fury

Boom! Boom!
he’s crushing him
slowly

Boom! Boom!
Duk responds
weakly

or tries to
but he’s
pawing
at air
now
he’s
wobbling

Boom! Boom!
it’s
the twelfth
round
it could be
the end
but it’s just
the beginning

Boom! Boom!
Duk
doesn’t give in
but it’s
a mask
of fatigue
and pain

Boom! Boom!
again!
one!
two!
three!
twelve!
fifteen!
twenty!
how much
can a man
take!?

Boom! Boom!
Ray lands
another
it’s the
thirteenth round
Duk
isn’t going
down
he grabs
onto him
exhausted

Boom! Boom!
holds
onto him
looking
for comfort
for shelter

Boom! Boom!
you can feel
in the air
that something
isn’t right

Boom! Boom!
the crowd
freezes

Boom! Boom!
the sound
loudly
echoes

Boom! Boom!
Ray’s just
throwing
punches
now

Boom! Boom!
but
he’s still
landing them
with great
force
below
above
to the body
to the temples

Boom! Boom!
you can
hear
people
shouting
the crowd
is excited
it urges
them on
it always
wants more
wants to see
them
more
and
more
into it

Boom! Boom!
Ray pauses
for a moment
Duk takes
advantage
he gets
his left
good
and
ready

Boom! Boom!
sunlight
bathes
the battle
it gently
hovers over
the flexing
bodies

Boom! Boom!
their eyes
are shut
in death
masks

Boom! Boom!
the public
is excited
Duk is
on the ground
wasn’t it
just a shove?

Boom! Boom!
it’s an omen
but on it goes
the round
won’t end

Boom! Boom!
it could be
the trumpet
of the last
judgment
it’s only
the bell

Boom! Boom!
it all
begins
again
the sky
seems
to stand
still
everything
stops

Boom! Boom!
a tremendous
right hook
a decisive
straight right
by Ray

Boom! Boom!
Duk
is finished
KO’d

Boom! Boom!
he’s
collapsed
into utter
darkness
an infinite
pitch dark

Boom! Boom!
for an instant
he tries
to raise
himself up
the champion
is carried off
in triumph
it’s Ray
all around
there’s only
noise and
confusion
Duk
is slumped
in the corner
his body
has been
dumped
like a sack
he crawls
away
slowly
in a warrior’s
death.