If ESPN Aired Poetry

If this was a prize fight, they’d stop it, right now.
We came out punching
in rounds 1-7,
400, 500, 600 shots,
haymakers all.
Then, around rounds 8 or 9,
the ring card girls
started getting more attention
than the writers,
more comments than poems,
still weighing in
with 300-400 left hooks and right crosses.
Maybe, like those heavyweights of old,
we’re simply taking a round or two off,
saving up for the final five,
hoping to impress the judges
with a flurry at the end.
Still, it was pretty defensive here
in round 25, with less than 170 jabs,
the occasional uppercut.
Hopefully, the ref won’t think
we’re out on our feet, and
even though it’s been a long battle,
will let us go the distance.