by Greg Friedmann
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| “The NFL Operates Like. Monopoly Which Fortifies Systemic Racism”—Choice, February 9, 2023 |
Roman numerals: so perfect to enumerate
our annual festival of gladiators. Modern pads
and helmets make a man’s body a lethal spear;
and yes, Roman coliseums also had luxury boxes.
As ever, spectators make book on the combatants
under their aegis, just as owners once wagered
on dark-skinned men compelled to box each other,
hate each other, on hot Sunday afternoons.
Imagine, afterwards: the plantation owner,
rotund, pink-flushed from heat, bourbon, and
bloodlust, making his happy stumbling way
to the barn, where Missy waits, as she must.
He says he won’t sell her if she behaves;
she waits, prays to be good. God must be in
His heaven, he thinks, to have made the process
of creating property so damned pleasurable.
our annual festival of gladiators. Modern pads
and helmets make a man’s body a lethal spear;
and yes, Roman coliseums also had luxury boxes.
As ever, spectators make book on the combatants
under their aegis, just as owners once wagered
on dark-skinned men compelled to box each other,
hate each other, on hot Sunday afternoons.
Imagine, afterwards: the plantation owner,
rotund, pink-flushed from heat, bourbon, and
bloodlust, making his happy stumbling way
to the barn, where Missy waits, as she must.
He says he won’t sell her if she behaves;
she waits, prays to be good. God must be in
His heaven, he thinks, to have made the process
of creating property so damned pleasurable.
Greg Friedmann's poetry has appeared in Sky Island Journal, The Northern Virginia Review, The Poetry Society of Virginia, Cagibi, Panoplyzine, Beyond Words, and other journals.