Adrian Matejka, Poet Laureate of the state of Indiana, 2018 to 2019. Reciting "Chicken and Other Stereotypes," a poem from his volume "The Big Smoke," 2013.
On a projection screen behind Mr. Matejka is a video clip of a racetrack event. The spectators cheer and wave. A mass of men crowd around a race car.
A flyer for a boxing match: Jack Johnson versus Tommy Burns, December 26, 1908.
At an outdoor boxing competition are hundreds of spectators, crowded together in ascending circles around the ring. Before the match, several officiants stand inside the ring.
The fighters commence their battle. As they jab and punch, sliding forward and backward, the referee stands nearby in every configuration they assume.
The fighters tussle, trying to bring each other down at every turn.