In the moment there is only
dust and din
and thoughts of glory
we dig our hands into
our stage
a bedroom hall
a kitchen drink
a commuting car
rings
the Retiarius roams
encircles
encroaches
ensnares the other
entangled in the words
casting weighted nets
impaling with a trident thrice
past
present
futures told
stabbed and bleeding
we break
we retreat
wipe the sweat
catch our breath
turning analysing appraising
we seek
through the bronze
cassis crista
crucified
an opening bare
dancing looking
don’t you dare
your scaled arm
a gladius
holds drums and bangs
upon a cracked
and scarred
a broken shield
oh so bold
screaming anthems
I will survive
break my chains
kiss me kiss me kiss me
an empty
stadium sits blind
no surrender
no thumbs to judge
no saving grace
no victory lost
no verdict delivered
just disgrace
to the deaths
murdering Murmillo
Hoplomachus heavy
armoured
a thorax cracked
spirits sapped
it simply snaps
two broken
hearts
fighting love
loving anger
lovers lie
and lovers die
pooling
rivers
crossing
over
in the sand.

∞

Submitted as part of “National Poetry Writing Month – 2017” (#NaPoWriMo2017). Today’s prompt: write a poem that incorporates the vocabulary and imagery of a specific sport or game. Your poem could invoke chess or baseball, hopscotch or canasta, Monopoly or jai alai. The choice is yours! Clearly, I nuanced this a bit with an extinct sport, I know.