Cassius Clay Turned Muhammad Ali Poem by Chen-ou Liu

A Tanka Prose


In Rome,1960, 'Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? ...' was sung through the summer breeze for the black boxer. But, the Olympic gold medal couldn't buy him a cup of morning coffee and a hamburger in a downtown restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky.

he watched the river
dragging the ribbon down,
red, white, and blue...
his steady bombardment
of left jabs at the air