i look at my old gloves as they hang on the wall…….

since i stopped fighting i don’t need them anymore….

when i realize the battle was within……………my opponents disappeared……… and i was the only one in the ring……

since i took my gloves off…………….i have had a change of heart……i realized……..

all the contenders i wanted to fight are as broken as i was…..

to some i have become a mentor, to others still a foe,

for some wish to keep fighting and i tell them i can’t remember

what we were fighting for………………………..

some fighters get the message after a kidney is bruised or a broken heart……………..

some like me lose it all and surrender and some fight shadows in the hall………….

but the greatest foe i ever faced……………resides inside of me and from time to time he beckons me to go a few more rounds

i have learned to laugh at him and he in turn laughs at me……………i no longer need to fight those demons inside of me……………..

we agree mutually to coexist………………”Mac,that was a cheap shot…you bum”……

no more bouts……………..no more titles