A Boxer’s Bell by Mark Tulin | Visitant

A Boxer’s Bell. Arty was born in the coal mines, hands blackened by the hardness of a coal miner’s life…
— Read on visitantlit.com/2020/01/30/a-boxers-bell/

A Boxer’s Bell by Mark Tulin

Arty was born in the coal mines,
hands blackened by the hardness of a coal miner’s life,
a tough guy who learned how to street fight.
Like a boxer, he took a boxing stance
at the sound of the bell,
any bell—even a cowbell or a school bell.
He threw left hooks and roundhouse rights
but took too many blows to the head,
wasn’t able to think straight,
had to count with broken fingers,
couldn’t hear with cauliflower ears;
his arteries were as hard as a rock
and his lungs were full of anthracite dust.