And a balding near-sighted
Middle-aged man with a paunch
Waving a red nylon bowling jacket.
After twenty minutes of shouts, laughs
Side-splitting sorry efforts
At whatcha-call bull-fighting
The man and the critter
Faced one another wavering
Just able to stand.
The man shouted Sword!
And was thrown an old bayonet
Hanging in the foreman's office.
The man picked it up.
A flash of sunlight struck the steer in the eye
And it charged the man
Knocking him down, dislocating his thumb.
The man howled, waved off help
Got up and pulled his thumb
With a scream in the silence.
He took up the bayonet
Trudged to the animal
Standing square, its legs twitching.
The man lifted the blade
And with all his strength
Drove it down hard.
The beast cocked its head
Hung it there a second
Grunted and sank to its knees
Rolled over coughing.
A last snort and it died.