They lock—again, again, again.
Shoulder to shoulder, spin to spin,
foot planted, heel lifted, grip tightening,
again, again, again.
Bodies arc like pendulums,
time folding between strikes.
Each throw, a stanza;
each grapple, a verse.
I feel every breath of my opponent
as if it is my own—
the pain, the rhythm, the stakes
folding into muscle and bone.
The bell rings—
and still, again, again, again.
Tamara-Lee Brereton-Karabetsos writes about the way people actually experience work—how we think, respond, and try to connect inside systems that don’t always account for that. Her focus sits at the intersection of neuroscience, behavior, and the reality of modern, digital work, with a particular interest in belonging and what makes people function well over time.
One Fall Review 