Something Else To Fight For

Black and blue, like starlight

A boxer wins the fight of his life.

Thru the ropes he goes home

To hold his wife, of so long.

The top is down on his ride.

Starlight is shadow bright.

He drives under it without headlights.

Dice on his mirror swings in the wind,

Reminding him that he doesn’t know

What tonight’s hiding about tomorrow.

Starlight vanishes, as he turns-

underneath the street lights high-beams,

He continues home without his lights on.

Pulling into his driveway.

That endless road turns from before him.

Now he’s faced with a door

Behind which, it’s him, his wife waits for.

She sits by the TV

Watching his boxing victory on repeat.

But mad about something else

She fidgets with their remote control.

Her bags are packed and by the door.

She waits to ask him to choose

Something else to fight for.

Dec 30, 2017

Author's Note

What made reading this worthwhile for you??

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

I think verse 2 tells the message of the poem as well as the description of the events does. The boxer has dice on his car mirror, an indication that life can be a gamble. The last two lines of the verse reinforce the gambling symbol; he has no idea about what tonight is hiding about tomorrow. He then turns into his street with the lights off, meaning he is going into the situation blind. When he finally reaches home he finds his wife waiting with packed bags. She's leaving him. This, directly after he won the fight of his life. You just never know.

[Titilayo Sarah Eguridu]

It was all breezy until the end...
I didn’t see the ultimatum coming.
I anticipated some kind of trouble but not from the wife
Her love for him must be so powerful that she’ll rather leave
than watch him die someday soon.
Cyprian the element of surprise caught me off guard.
You my friend are gifted

[barleygirl]

The best aspect of this is the storytelling. You peel it back to a minimal level, yet it expresses everything that needs expressing to build up to an anti-climactic ending. I love the way you paint the wife as being ambivalent -- she watches his victory as if it means something to her, yet she also wants him to walk away from all that. Very realistic vignette told in a way where we were really yearning to know where this was going, full of mixed feelings just like life (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Fran Marie]

Sometimes life
is but a throw of
the dice and often
comes up boxcars

the boxer is not
yet aware of
his wife's decision
to leave because
she feels neglected
for so long as what i
feel these last lines
are revealing Will
he fight for her to stay?

a poignant piece
so well expressed

[poetgurl]

Wow, I love that last stanza, such solid imagery you paint with. Emotional filled write

[.]

The conflicting life of a star. He is successful and the arc lights follows him. But beneath under this success of light there is stark darkness. His family life is in a tumultuous condition. He is in the sad verge of chosing one from it..... It is sad, realistic and aptly woven

[Vertigo Cat1111]

I loved this, and I think it was the metaphors I loved! You never fail to write those so brilliantly, and mention of the dice adds even more than there already was. The last two lines were absolutely brilliant, and I loved this idea. Thank you for sharing this!

[Patricia Wedel]

dearest Cyprian... unfortunately... we must fight for a living... and appreciate the safety of home... I would not pack my Bags... but that’s a choice some might make. Instead.. I would soothe his wounds and perhaps drive him to and fro with the headlights safe and bright... A sad poem that describes the so often story of life...
🙏 prayerfully, Pat

[Ankita Dwivedi]

This work calls out all the conflicts a person can go through in his life . THe way you have described these inter and intra personal conflicts and contradictions so beautifullly yet effectively that is what makes the reading worthwhile.. in life sometimes we lose even if we win , life has a twisted sense of teaching lessons until we learn them . We have to make choices and those are the very choices that define us at the end . Thank you for sharing , my friend. PLeasure reading your work after so long .
XOXO
Ankita

[Neville]

Very original and with an unexpected twist inserted when the kidney punch was delivered ........ knockout :)