marathon

left you on the starting line

never meant to drop your baton

took a rose

put it on the top of it

you don't know

how fast my feet can move

look up at the jumbotron

i can see you

the rose has bloomed into two

you can hide in a stadium

you glow like iridium

dig in your spikes

have them dig into my back

ain't love a marathon anyway

i wanted to run

but you made me fall

i can taste the sand in

the grit of my teeth

if this is going to be a race

we ought to keep an eye on each other

it's hard to hide in a coliseum

wrapped up in a number and bright colors

it's you

i always want handing off

setting me up

picking me off

you just need a little faith

a catch in your gait

i spin and turn

and try to figure it out

why there was ever any doubt

i would have carried you to the sidelines

playing back all my mind times

i wait for the start of the bell

some kind of signal

shocking my body

and i understand

places that have no communication

while knowing

checking my vital signs requires it

they built you a statue

i run by it every day

i stop

and i pause

i slap the bronze behind

before i go

you're too far for me to see

although here it's so flat

i see the silhouette of your shadow

inside the silt setting sun

and i want to find a way to

catch up to the light

what i would give for a whisper

a sign that you're okay

i don't know how we got separated 

survivors of different runs in life

all i know is that we are a team

my arm is outstretched behind me 

it's you

i always want handing off

setting me up

picking me off

you just need a little faith

a catch in your gait

we can talk about the things

that we cannot explain 

why waste time on it

ribbons don't wait

i never paid much attention to the clocks

i spin and turn

and try to figure it out

why there was ever any doubt

i would have carried you to the sidelines

playing back all my mind times

carry a torch

light my world on fire

i'll lace you up

fit into all of your shoes

pull the strings tighter

feel me against your skin

i wanted to run

but you made me fall

i can taste the sand in

the grit of my teeth

if this is going to be a race

we ought to keep an eye on each other

it's hard to hide in a coliseum

wrapped up in a number and bright colors

i cannot believe

the rose gardens beside me

always avoided the thorns before now

now they stick me

and leave a trail

the color of your lips

i spin and turn

and try to figure it out

why there was ever any doubt

i would have carried you to the sidelines

playing back all my mind times

how fast can i fly

can i cut through the pollen

pick up both of us fallen

can i catch it when you're callin

pick me up when i'm crawlin

it's you

i always want handing off

setting me up

picking me off

you just need a little faith

a catch in your gait

your eyes form a spectrum

i'm willingly falling

i follow you on the program page

all the boys on the team

think you're all the rage

but you belong to me

you're within my grip

a baton without any holes

you're too far for me to see

although here it's so flat

i see the silhouette of your shadow

inside the silt setting sun

and i want to find a way to

catch up to the light

i've been at this for hours

all the light has gone from the towers

i can push myself

i can reach within

i reach for the power of

              one man

left you on the starting line

never meant to drop your baton

took a rose

put it on the top of it

you don't know

how fast my feet can move

Reviews

[Marie Harrison]

Love this running poem.
What a fun read!