Read Poem:  Friday Night Fight, by Soetan Abayomi Alfred

Right upper cut

Jerks the head backwards

Forward left jab

Throws his face sideways

Another right to the eye

And he blacked out

Ten seconds on the canvass

And he was knocked out

Buried at the third round was his career

One man’s funeral music

Is another’s victorious cheer

Eyes bulging like a wet frog’s

Tears, blood and sweat mixed together

And it hurts more

As they announced the winner

I trashed my dinner

Dear Lord, I’m a sinner

Don’t take my debts to the cleaners

My dirty bad habit is calling for my neck

I rolled the dice on a loser

And there goes the winner’s check

The grim reaper is now my time keeper

My door bell rings and the sound gets deeper

Voices I recognized adrenaline me to the window

Ready to jump

Fresh breeze as the wind blows

Still trying to jump

A kick to the door

Becomes their password

Obeying instinct and gravity

I hit the ground with a thud

Velocity spoke to my legs

And they ran

Thought it was all over

But the night has just begun

Cellphone rings

They got my girlfriend

Stupid as it seems

She is just my girlfriend

Started a long walk

Back to Satan’s kitchen

It used to be my crib

Now they’ve got me wishing

That I never place bets with a big loan

Now Mr. Jackson’s thugs

Will never leave me alone

I had promised to pay

After the fight night

The bookmaker probably let out the word

That I place a huge bet to the world

Now it’s all turning

Into a fright night

I got back slowly to the house

And knocked soft

The door was opened fast

And the welcome was rough

Fist flew into my face,

My back and my stomach

The beating was grand

Way off the mark

“I’ve got the fifty grand”

I yelled to fight back

My girlfriend was tied

To a chair and gagged

The beating ceased

And the boys relaxed

“Let my girl go”

“But where is the dough” they asked

“I won’t say a word

Until you let the girl go

You’ve got me

And I’m the one with your dough”

“Fred, you don’t get to make the rules

Around here

And luckily for you I’m old school

With grey hair

The girl of course is collateral damage

Where’s my money?”

Queried Mr. Jackson with rage

Face down, I prayed for an earthquake

Or better still a wild hurricane

Heaven answered my prayers

With four big bangs on the door

“It’s the police,

Open the bloody damn door”

Mr. Jackson’s street rules were useless

His boys looked so dumb and clueless

Panic attacked their ego, so careless

They became vegetables, so helpless

Furiously, the cops burst in

On the TV screen, news just in

The boxing match has been cancelled

And dismissed

The winner was arrested

And of his titled stripped

His opponent, my bet

Was pronounced dead

Food poisoning was the cause

The autopsy cleared

A smile gave my bloody face

A weird look

My girl was loosed

But she had a sorry look

I rushed to hug

And comfort her

She pushed

And slapped me really hard

I tried to plead

But she will not heed

I blame my greed

She was hurt indeed

And now she’s gone

My debt is done

The battle is won

The fear has gone

I had called the cops

On my way back

Mr. Jackson cursed, puffed and shout

As the cops cuffed his boys and pushed them out

I cashed the fifty thousand

The next day

And fell in love

With a horse named blue jay

I lost twenty thousand

When blue jay broke my heart

Went back home and packed

From town for a while

I had to depart

If life is a game

I’ll gamble it all

Drink to my win

Or miserable loss