"Gladiators"

Scott Litts

Betrayed and alone after breaking up with my fake girlfriend I went to see the gladiators 
up in Harlem.

I sat in the bleachers in awe, really, at their armor, 
their armour,
at their skill and style,
and at how nobody else had come to see.

You could tell by their stance as they fought
how extreme their exhaustion would become,
from some combination of their armour’s weight
and being repeatedly smashed in the head with zweihanders.

They battled and I watched and I turned to drink from my bottle and noticed 
another audience member beside me, and she flashed her eyes at me with alarm, 
like a girl too shy and too awkward for subtlety,
and they were beautiful.

I thought I should tell them all how impressive it was.
I thought I should tell her something nice about her eyes—
that it’s sort of strange to find someone else
who is also alone and relatively normal seeming
watching gladiators at a community center in Harlem,
especially with eyes like that, that could look anywhere and strike anything.
I thought it could be nice for everyone if I offered something of myself to them.

and the fights went on, the weapons changed,
and there was loss and there was triumph,
and the red leather knight reclined in his foldout chair,
and the girl got up in silence and left,
and perhaps one shouldn’t feel so guilty for wanting to be alone.

---

You can find Scott Litts on Instagram @scott.litts