Harlequin

[Bloggsworth]

Sweat-wet shirts steam
in late November sun.
Front rows, three by three,
six pairs of eyes
unblinking in their enmity,
spine-jarring grunt
of shoulder on shoulder,
heads interlocking,
the rasp of stubble on cheek,
twinned stench of beer and body-odour,
nape of neck taking the strain,
the rutting upward heave,
sinews stretched,
discs compressed,
pain ignored, breath forced
from straining lungs.

Break break break!