A Run Through Tired Woods

Cool air kills another humid Virginia summer
My running shoes find new life
Though I run occasionally
through the sweltering heat
There is nothing to compare to a forest
Ablaze
She calls me from the harsh asphalt my feet pound to reach her soft her paths
Paths littered with her fiery tears
She is burdened and her leaves fall
In preparation for sleep
‘Another lonely cold winter,’ she explains
‘Bikers lose their helmets and runners their shoes’
Everyday is another closer
Each bringing indiscernible change
A change of shade
Or a shade of change?
She is exhausted
providing so much since spring
I gave my apologies for
A generation so narcotized
I explained to her
‘They believe that in their intoxication
They are peeking into heaven’s windows
The truth is they are trapped in some purgatorial existence
Neither granted access to the most high
Nor lent ability to appreciate a single basal leaf
in the throes of autumn’
I went on
‘and don’t concern yourself with months or years
For there has been but one to age so beautifully as you
My dearest Michelle
The wife he carved out for me
As I bid her farewell
Another golden tear fell
But I left her with this assurance
‘Though your company may dwindle
In the months to come and
Your bare limbs will no longer
Hold their brilliance
It will be my feet
That pound these paths
Whether through your fiery distress
When we may share our burdens of the future
Or amongst the terrible winds of winter
When through puffs of breath I will watch you sleep
One Response
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