Record

In violence / there is no reciprocity

like rain on soil

Shanghai / 18 years-old / Winner by knockout

The doctor called a stop

to the fight when he noticed

part of the skull exposed

next to his eyebrow-

a piece no bigger than an eye

Thailand / 19 years-old / Winner by knockout

My lower lip gushing

I drop him with an uppercut

as his queen looks on-

her lips, bright red, her mouth

curled into a smile

Brazil / 20 years-old / Loser by knockout

One night before

hoodie drenched in sweat

10lbs. in two hours

then newspapers soaked through with grease

endless slices of watermelon at the churrascaria

then his knee

shattering the bone around my left eye

the doctors called it orbital

my mistake: resting my head

on his shoulder-letting him cradle it in his arms

And to think

all those years / and not a moment of pain