Back then, they'd chain a bear
in the middle of the bear garden

& let the dogs loose. Iron chains
around a bear's neck don't slow

him too much. A bear will always
make short work of a dog. Shakespeare

said Sackerson did it more than
twenty times to dogs & wildcats

alike. & since most creatures
are naturally afraid of bears, there

wouldn't always be much of a show
in the bear garden. So the handlers

sometimes put the bear's eyes out
or took his teeth to make the fight

more sporting. I believe you need
eyes more than you need teeth

in a fight, but losing either makes
a bear a little less mean. Once baiting

was against the law, some smart
somebody figured coloreds would fight

just as hard if hungry enough.
So they rounded up the skinniest

of us, had us strip to trousers, then
blindfolded us before the fight.

They turned us in hard circles a few
times on the ring steps like a motorcar

engine before pushing us between
the ropes. When the bell rang,

it seemed like I got hit from eight
directions. I didn't know where

those punches came from, but I swung
so hard my shoulder hasn't been right

since because the man said only
the last darky on his feet gets a meal.