Old Boxes of Billets-Doux

As dancers, as boxers,
We embrace, united

In our eitherorness,
Our polarization,

Equally two as one.
Loathing each other is

How we need each other,
Leaning on each other.

Ours is politics as
Contest of stamina.

Ours is the world’s oldest,
Longest continuous

Democracy, upright
If staggering, because

We refuse to give in
To each other; we hang

On hating each other.
There’s a secret to this,

Older than politics,
Older than the language

Of our rivalries. We
Know no one’s not but two.