Jake LaMotta's Blackened Blues
by Michael Doyle

With the pressure of coal refractive
In a life hard lived and extractive
A diamond's aspects glitter in their hues
The Bronx Bull lived his blackened blues

When out of the ring, his prowess was as abusive
As his desire to feel love was tragically elusive
The Raging Bull could not outrun the jabs and jeers
That he remembered, along with footwork and cheers

Born to be a ready-made champion who had a hunch
That he would not go down despite the worst punch
It was a hard life lived in his parade of years
That brought its harm by causing others so many tears

This then was the treadmill that became his journey
Alongside his Shakespearian quest for his destiny
Wishing that somehow he could be Sir Olivier
His shadow box became the contests with Sugar Ray

Until even he wondered if life could be more than a fight
As he kept knocking them out, night after night
Broken down into bruises that no one should endure
There were no good answers to be found or serve as a cure

For his need to push beyond the walls of the unknown
He would take the punches in his pursuit of his crown
This was the currency of a soured life spent in a ring
Where even the caged canary would choose not to sing

(c) November 18, 2023  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved