The clang was literally life-saving
And reverberated through
Every hollow bone in his body
After successive intervals of intense body-beating
His legs could hardly bear any weight
Having turned to jelly
Four steps were all they could muster
Collapsing under him
As his trainer brought out the stool
And reached for the brow duster.
The cooling from the compresses
Gradually spread to his aching muscles
Creeping upstream along venous tributaries
Until it arrived its destination
And he began to shiver
As the blood was mopped from his brow
And the underlying gash stapled
He cast a sidelong glance
At the white terrycloth
His trainer had left behind over there
In the darkness
Underneath the chairs
That made up the front row
A part of him longed to see it fly
Sail smoothly over the ropes
Into the incandescence
Land at the umpire's feet
And bring a halt
To this nonsense
He kept staring at it though
For its shimmering in the dark
Evoked the memory of a story
His Nana loved to recount
Before he left for glory
Five kings had camped against a small city
"This was going to be a massacre
Not a battle"
One whispered to another
As they lay in their tents
The night before advancing
And right they were
For shrieks of terror
Woke 'em up
While it was still dark
And the smell of burning flesh
Caused them to choke
As they fled to a mountain cave
To watch the decimation
Of their troops in horror
However
As the day wore on
They grew less despondent
For even though
They had been caught unawares
The enemy was outnumbered
"Nightfall would soon be upon us"
Said one to the others
Assuaging their fears
"For then we can count our losses
And plan our counterattack like bosses"
They soon discovered
The horror show wasn't over yet
Apparently the elements
Had joined their foe to conspire
Against their haughty bet
It turned out to be
The longest recorded wait
For a sunset
And the sun's presence
Was like a tonic to their adversaries
Who kept on fighting
Like they ran on alkaline batteries
Whispering under their breaths
Every few minutes
"The sun is still up"
Till all the kings' men
Had been killed or captured
The clang brought him back
To the present
He stole one last look
At the towel
Kicked up from the stool
And approached his adversary
"The sun is still up"
He muttered
As he ducked and feinted
