For the Title
I dried up all my fights fighting
for you, and I’m too tired
too beaten
too black and blue and busted
to do it anymore. I came back for that last round
(fighters always do) all split lip
and broken nose, bloodied knuckles
and dragging feet. Tell me,
Did we make it through all the rounds? Did we
clinch tight enough, survive the rabbit
punches and clean up real nice
from the dirty hooks and jabs? Listen,
you can hear the bells ring something sweet,
the crowds shuffle
towards the exits, feel the weight
of the gloves slip off our hands
while the judges huddle close—
all beady eyes and sorry bets.
Jessica (Tyner) Mehta, PhD is a multi-award winning Aniyunwiya interdisciplinary poet and artist. As a native of the occupied land of what is often referred to today as “Oregon” and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, space, place, and de-colonization are the driving forces behind her work. She recently completed her post-doctoral fellowship as the 2022 Forecast Change Lab fellow and is now undertaking her Fulbright Senior Scholar post in Bengaluru, India where she is curating a poetry anthology in the colonizer’s tongue.