The Greatest~by Paul F. Lenzi

 

 

The Greatest

Muhammad Ali – A Change Is Gonna Come” by Paul Lovering

(Originally posted in May 2014, I am reposting today in honor of his passing, as I wipe at a tear)

* * *

you wore the big belt and carried your medals

through the vigorous years of my life

so I made you my champion

adopted you for my own smart-ass demigod

colliding with culture and crashing convention

and I hung up your face on those troubling times

there you stood in all of your prizefighting finery

taunting us

rampant with arrogance and handsome conceit

your dark chestnut body chiseled

peak conditioned and pluperfect capable

dealing its deadly art

brutally beautifully

intricate footwork no heavyweight ring

has before or since seen

your long lightning reach

taking painfully accurate measure

of man after powerhouse man

with jab after knifepoint-sharp jab

splitting eyebrows and rattling chins

before loosing fast hammering flourishes

raining down real red-gloved ruin

delighting your grin and buckling their knees

until coup de grace blows sent them crashing

like mighty felled trees to the canvas

flippant poetry

spilled from your lip into microphones

while cameras found the cocksure

that twinkled your eyes

there you stand in all of your champion’s finery

taunting us

still