shot glass
title
"... brevity is the soul of wit ..."
- William Shakespeare

Lew Watts


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My head was squeaking when I was walking

Welsh rugby player Jamie Roberts describing playing
against Australia, unaware he had fractured his skull

If I may say so, it's a pretty dumb
way to spend your Saturdays, although
I did it in my youth (a rugby scrum
is better than testosterone alone),
crushing other's testicles, my nose,
a collar bone, an elbow and my jaw –
wired-shut for several months, you get to know
which chicken soup will clog a drinking straw.
But your description led me to recall
his birth when, after hours between her hips,
his head compressed to the shape of a rugby ball,
he slithered out, a stretched smile on his lips
as though he'd heard the squeaks of mice or rats
before he felt the first of many slaps.