Adrian Matejka’s “Battle Royal”

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.