It Takes a Developing Strength

Crow Jonah Norlander

My wife meets a man once a week inside a soundproof space. She counts out loud, hits things with sticks, and stomps her feet. She practices each day at home, and I could spend hours listening to her whack and thud. The vibrations leave little room in the air, and there are very few things I can continue thinking. I become saturated by tingly numbness and could enjoy this state indefinitely, but her stamina is low. Sometimes I coax her into practicing twice in the same day, though when fatigued, her precision wanes, and she becomes frustrated as her strikes falter.