It rarely happened

It rarely happened

To me,

But it did,

Once.

Confronted outside of school

The crowd in a big circle

Screaming, “Fight, fight, fight.”

It was a misunderstanding

But I had offended Gorgeous

George

A big kid with larger than life

Muscles, busted shirt buttons,

Facial hair

And an expandable belly

Who had accused me of trying

To steal his girlfriend

When I hadn’t known she was.

Too late I apologised

Waved it off as an

Honest mistake

Although true to say

Not one you should ever make

As the shout went up

“Fight, fight, fight.”

Herded in like a lamb

In such circumstances

Slaughter is not an overused word.

I was stuck

Stuck

Stuck

In the muck

As we circled each other

He looked hungry

So I took my chance

Used my football speed

And the shuffle steps

I learned in a dance class,

Where I went to meet girls,

Caught him on a glass chin

Shattering his bravado

Rolled him to the ground

Sat on his chest

Asked if he would yield

We were nothing if not polite

Little gents.

A few years before

We would have been young soldiers

Bivouacked in tents

Waiting to

“Fight, fight, fight.”

Without a doubt, he was the stronger

But I had caught him by surprise

And the conflagration was over

Before it began.

I helped him to his feet

As he tried to quell

Embarrassed tears

The crowd were in a frenzy

They thought we would have at it

Again

But no

We were done

For there was no real malice

Or lasting envy

Just a teenage misunderstanding

Reckless hormones

On a cavalry charge

In the shadow of the school gate

No war and no hate

Suffice it to say

From that day to this

We have remained on friendly terms

Although he is now twice my size,

Even his tattoos have muscles,

And could roll me over

Like a bulldozer

If he really tried

To “fight, fight, fight.”

With all his might.

Although I still think I am

The better dancer.