Horace Bonham, American
“Rats. When I Was Time Traveling This Morning, I Think I Left My Laptop Back in 1879. And I’m Pretty Sure I Had a Window of Porn Open. I Wonder If Anyone Found It,” 1879
Oil on canvas
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Info, or perhaps links that point to more info, about this artist can be found here (archived if necessary), here, here (can be read in full for free on Fridays), and here. He currently has no Wikipedia page in any language.
/// Gamecocks fight to the death in “the Pit.”
(Way back then this was semi-legit.)
A crowd leans in to view
which survives of the two.
Lots of money is riding on it.
/// For that time, this crowd’s very diverse.
Rich and poor all compete for the purse.
Young and old, black and white,
but no women in sight.
Could testosterone make people worse?
/// Here we see the “unlucky thirteen”
who look down on a loud bloody scene.
The rich gambler prefers
gamecocks with metal spurs
which cause wounds that are deep and obscene.
/// In the cockpit, one rooster’s the winner.
You might think that the loser is dinner,
but that meat goes to waste.
Unlike hens bred for taste,
they’re aggressive and vicious (and thinner).
/// So, what draws them to this deadly game,
which can, man’s baser instincts, inflame?
Yes, there’s money they’re betting,
but the cruel blood-letting
gives them pleasure. Do any feel shame?
/// People’s motives are often complex,
and can even their own minds perplex.
They are drawn like a flame,
(despite feelings of shame),
to sadistic acts, gambling and sex.
/// Will the qualms they might feel make them cease?
No, the dopamine these things release
is addictive and strong.
They won’t stop doing wrong
until forced to do so by police.
/// We can see it’s a popular show.
No more seats, it is now S.R.O.
They are here to have seen a
most unique ballerina,
who does all of Swan Lake on one toe.
> or <
/// What is shown in this painting seems clear.
There’s a blood-sport occurring right here.
But some see allegory—
a political story
of the Hayes-Tilden election year.