Morning Run

The alarm shrieks as a reluctant groan escapes me

Heavy eyelids peel apart and lead-like legs drop to the floor

Stiff fingers bind my maddening hair back as my

Sluggish feet slide into well-worn shoes; and I run.

Running, exerting muscles that are too numb to feel the labor

My silent mind, half asleep; waking with each step

Full of vague thoughts which detect nothing but

The splendor of the moment and the morning

Like a baby’s doughy fingers uncurling from its clenched fist,

The Sun’s soft, yellow rays spread through the dawning sky

My dewy skin delights in the light’s caresses and my eyes dance

Along spindling trees to spy a bird along the pink sky

My legs stretch forward, steadily leaping to the distance

Feet clomp to the ground and quickly bound ahead

I am relaxed. My body dances to the rhythm of the morning:

Leap, clomp, bound; A breath like the ocean; Lead, clomp, bound.

A thick breeze brushes my flushed cheeks and I lose myself.

During the run there exists no yesterday, today, or tomorrow

Worries are three steps behind and responsibilities are far ahead

There is nothing but the wind, the sun, and the birds.