Every Time I Run Every time I run
I run a loop
encircling
the reservoir that brims
the faucets of New Yorkers
Every time I run
I run for miles
always beginning and ending
at the very same point.
Every time I run
I span massive distances
but go nowhere.
Every time I run
I am running away from the world
and into myself.
Every time I run
I round the reservoir
pounding the ground with my toes
reverberating legs
push my struggling corpse
pistons churn
engine burns
I gasp
power
forth from me.
Every time I run
the hot summer afternoon
lets loose the reservoir
settled inside of me
all my faucets gush
just so I can push
far
enough
to get away
from this sluggish, arid globe.
But every time I run
the further I run
brings me all the closer
to where I was before all the pain.
I’m running forwards
I’m running nowhere
I’m running backwards.
Every time I run
through crispy cold air
so fresh
that it bites you,
playful
I feel my shadow
sprinting faster past the wind
I feel my blood steaming
streaming, gleaming inside
I dance through all the park’s breeze
I fly betwixt the rustic trees
I hover amongst the rustling leaves.
Every time I run
I feel I can not go any farther.
Every time I run
I subject myself to pain,
ever-willing.
Every time I run
I come to peace
with the incessant
ritualistic
beating
breathing
pounding.
Every time I run
I do not escape the circle of life
But every time I run
I finish where I started
now ready to face the world.