Donnybrook Poem by David Kowalczyk

Sprang into the lexicon
in 1852 after a wild brawl at an
annual fair in the Irish town
of the same name.
It entered the world
with fists clenched and
a scowl on its face.


It has frothing purple blood.
Its face consists entirely of mouth.
It smokes Cohibas and wears a fedora.
Rides in gleaming black limousines.


A sweetly sinister word,
a cauldron simmring with menace,
yet possibly the most lilting
description of brutality
in the English language.


Whenever I read or hear this word,
blazing crimson splotches cover
my body.