Friday, August 22, 2014

Leroy Jones

Leroy Jones
(Las Vegas, NV, 1975, while a sparring partner
for Ron Lyle: photo by Red Shuttleworth)


Leroy Jones

The big man, 6'5", over 300 pounds,
is rag-polishing a 1973 powder blue
Mercury Cougar XR-7, Don't talk
what you totally don't know, not to me.
Only Larry Holmes could stop me,
with a thumb to an eye, detached retina,
at Ceasar's in Vegas... real deliberate.

If you talk boxing, say I was naturally big.
The trunk of the Cougar flies steamy-open:
platters of porterhouse steaks, mashed potatoes.
No glutton, I never ate more than my fill.
Jones wipes a window smudge with a rag,
Man, I love to keep my ride together.
The fight game?  I was mountain-big,
flowed like a tidal wave of sorrow.


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