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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4nDFtjEG9Y&ab_channel=JacobBanks

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(author's note: You could light a match across the callouses that've formed upon my knuckles - I'm still not sure if I should be proud of that.)

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He wouldn’t slow down -  

That’s the thing that drew people’s attention -  

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He’d tire, his breathing would change,

His limbs would lull, 

Footwork

Falter, but he wouldn’t slow down.

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Instead, he’d take a knee,

Hold a thumb to the pulse

Beating

Through his carotid artery -  

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He’d exhale, rhythmically,

Expel carbon dioxide from his bloodstream -  

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And then, within less than 15 seconds,

He’d stand

And return to his place at the heavy bag

To beat his catharsis out in tandem,

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Ceaselessly: over, over and again.

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