One white man
pummels another.
The referee’s
a diminutive figure
in café-au-lait pants,
prim black cravat.
Ringside, men in suits,
not a hair out of place,
observe the bloodsport
with relish,
flailing their hands,
holding aloft
camel fedoras,
forming O-shapes
with their mouths.
They cringe away
when Firpo belts Dempsey
hard, sending his milky torso
flying over taut
boundary ropes.
They’re hungry for gore.
It’s not what kills them. George
Bellows, who painted the scene,
died, 42,