Ten minutes resounded throughout the vault of his mind.
It was the time set before the big match he was ordered to throw in.
An Italian immigrant, Jimmy was a man of few words.
But with his gaze, which I’ve seen before, you could see his stories.
And through them, he was left little choice, but to be a dog
For a gang of sharks; all to keep his family away from their teeth.

And before he could settle the debts with his conscious,
He marched to meet his maker before the blood stained ring.
Slick, with what seemed like squid oil, his hair shined like the northern star.
A cocky Chicago **** by the name of Machesturn.
They met gloves as dictated, but in one second
A dagger like spit ball fell against Jimmy’s glove.

And into the first round, the bell rings like it’s judgment day.
Machestrun flies back like a sparrow, weaving and bobbing,
But my man Jimmy poses still like the great thinker,
Feeling the weight of such a small drop grind its way off his pride.
And in no time, Machesturn begins his assault
With every punch shattering Jimmy’s castle.
Like Atlas giving up on his duty for the world,
Jimmy listens with every earth shattering punch
The screams of his soul wanting to be free.

A left hook; he sees his mother,
A woman who could take the breath of the sun and fill him with light.
A right hook; he sees his father.
A man who lost three fingers in one of his 17 hour jobs.
And even so he worked despite that he’ll never give his family the life they deserve,
But he’ll work his back even after the camel breaks.
And with the upper-cut, his castle grinds to dust.

He sees his sister, Anna-Maria.
She’s turning twenty if his memory served him right
For he had not seen this beautiful girl since they had first arrived in the land of hope.
She deserved a life better than what God ever had in store for her.
He wanted her to smile till rapture,
He wanted her to shine like the stars in the big screens,
And he wouldn’t let her doubt herself, he wouldn’t let others tell her she was any less, but perfect.
Oh no, he would scream before that happens, he would **** before that happens,
He would bleed before that happens, and he would die before that happens!

And with that, Jimmy takes a step back with the fortitude of a mountain,
Eyes geared forward and piercing with the determination of a hawk!
His right arm comes forth bearing the souls of those past in heaven and hell,
With the eruption of his soul screaming like the opera singer he had dreamed of!
To sand became Machesturn’s jaw and Jimmy’s collar flung off.