At the starting line, carnival-like preparations for the day
Just like any distance race
But I wonder if I am in reality
Knowing that I will be permanently changed in a few hours.
Shadows make black footprints on the road
While the lake looks uphill, hanging in there
And I don't mind the uphill runs in the shade
But somebody teach me how to run downhill.
Telephone lines are scalloped trim
Rimming the road
Tree trunks are lovers wrapped around each other
Mare grazing in the pasture
Her sleeping foal looks like a fluffy rug
Till its lint brush tail flicked up at a fly.
The pigs in the pasture run from us.
Running by the lake, the wind switches my legs
Where I once was with my lover
Memories pass over my jelly legs.
At an intersection, the guitar player sings,
"North Carolina on my mind."
I am Helen Reddy, "I am woman hear me strong."
Like the shock of the cold water in the face
The cheers
"You are the first woman."
Men running behind me say, "If we closed our eyes we'd believe
the cheering was for us."
By the 16 mile marker
My legs are so sore
They don't love me anymore
They say, "Listen to your body."
Except during the last six miles of a marathon.
The finish line seems to run on ahead of me
Like a runner I can't catch up with
Like a vicious carrot on a stick
The applause injects Ham Me with energy
And I cross
HUGS, HUGS, HUGS from wonderful friends.
© Copyright joan joesting 1978
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