You cage-fight words, make them scream,
wrestle like bare knuckled children
cloned and bartered for a crowd that caws
         "win,lose, give it more of that" 

and when they roll - promiscuous in heat
from your wagered tongue
you are exhausted, heaving and amazed
         in a void that still-lives 

ache - for all your pounding disconnection
words cannot Do but fail - framed
in cruelty your slaves are bound to starkest
         principles - of cause.