Boxing

The air is thick and salty
The smell of too much Icy Hot
So humid you taste it all
Familiar and welcome
I’ve missed this
Noises everywhere
Clanking weight-plates
Jump rope mat-clacks
Chains jangle in tandem
With the slap and rhythm
Of leather gloves against heavy bags
Two minutes on, one minute off
Bell, sticks, buzzer
Intermingled with the boxer’s playlist
Angry heshers and proud rappers
Important classics from the eighties
Just the right mix of Skrillex
With Rage Against the Machine
All of this for fighting
This filthy gym
These soaked sweated saints
Of the sweet science
Driving from the floor
Through the abdominal core
Whipped out the shoulder girdle
Down the arm and through the bag
All the power and might
Of each respective body
Channelled into one fist