Turn 140 of 226

Pass out in each others embrace

The bodies do not move. The not moving is the thing that follows the grinding — the grinding that has slowed to the rocking, the rocking that has slowed to the stillness. The stillness is not the stillness of rest. The stillness is the stillness of depletion. The bodies have sparred for two hours and fucked for one and the depletion is the thing that is in every muscle, every fiber, every cell that has spent its glycogen and its ATP and its everything. The concrete is warm under the body's back. Diane's weight is the thing on the body's chest — the 1,052 pounds that are the blanket, the blanket that is the thing the body wants. The body's arms are around Diane's back. The arms are the things that hold. The holding is not tight. The holding is the thing that is the resting grip, the grip that does not need to grip because the bodies are not going anywhere.

Diane's breathing is the thing the body hears. The breathing is the thing that is slow — the slow that is the recovery, the recovery that is the heart rate dropping from the fighting rate to the resting rate. The body's heart is the thing that slows to match. The matching is not deliberate. The matching is the thing the bodies do. The heart rates are the same. The breathing is the same. The breathing is the thing that is the chest rising and falling against the body's chest. The rising and falling is the rhythm. The rhythm is the thing the body counts. The counting is not conscious. The counting is the thing the body does before sleep.

The sky is the thing above the bodies. The sky is the thing that is the stars. The stars are the things the body cannot count. The stars are too many. The body's eyes are the things that close. The closing is the thing that is the darkness — the darkness that is not the warehouse darkness, the darkness that is the thing behind the eyelids. The warehouse darkness was the thing that was the ceiling. The ceiling is gone. The thing above the body is the sky and the sky is the thing that is open. The open is the thing the body falls into. The falling is the thing that is sleep.

Diane's hand is the thing in the body's hand. The hand is the thing that was in the hand during the unconsciousness before — the unconsciousness in the warehouse, the unconsciousness after the beating. The hand held then. The hand holds now. The holding is the thing the body knows. The holding is the thing the body trusts. The trust is the thing the body does not name. The trust is the thing the body does not need to name. The hand is enough. The hand is the thing that is the proof. The proof is the thing the body does not need.

The bodies sleep behind the foundry. The foundry is the thing that is the wall at the body's back. The wall is the thing that is the concrete and the steel. The concrete is the thing the body lies on. The steel is the thing above. The bodies are between the concrete and the sky. The between is the thing the body chose. The choosing is the thing the body did when the body walked out of the warehouse. The warehouse is the thing the body left. The foundry lot is the thing the body found. The finding is the thing the body keeps. The bodies breathe. The bodies sleep. The bodies grow. The growth is the thing the wish does. The wish is the thing the body does not think about. The wish is the thing the body does not need to think about. The wish is the thing that works. The bodies sleep and the wish works and the morning is the thing that comes.