Kingdom Come

A championship fight is twelve rounds and it's in the championship rounds, rounds eleven and twelve, where one finds one's self and sees things for what they are. Cut-men and Guardian Angels can stop the bleeding for only so long. Boxing is the author's metaphor, "Know thy enemy." Petroleum jelly plugs up gaping wounds for only three minutes at a time. How much punishment can one endure before one realizes it's a fight to the death? Kingdom Come was written for a "worthy opponent."