wailing at the wall
knuckles red
bloodshed
sweat drips
feet trip
i'm on the floor

i get back up

i break my jaw
i look down
i see my feet
undershadowed by a limp
swollen bleeding mass
that was my lip
and i notice
that my shoelaces are too loose

i continue still

there's a release
a satisfying
painful
sweet
release,
it is earned

it is therapeutic,
with my blood soaking
down my fingers
from my ruptured knuckles
i watch the pain
as it leaves me

and I am stronger.