O running shoes, infamous retrievers of my sanity

 Conveyors of my downtrodden soul

Rapaciously, you wait in my repository

 Pleading to unleash your chariot-like powers

You beckon

My unquiet mind acquiesces

Humanity has consumed my psyche

Melancholy thoughts of inadequacy and fear of failure

Threaten me into a chaotic darkness

You mock my weakness, yet prod me forward with each step

Like a great warrior

You tirelessly fight to keep me sound

You murmur to me, you wise dyad: “endure and victory will be yours”

O great faithful protectors, you are the medicine man of my emotion 

Eventually, your laces sprout wings beneath my feet

 The tragic, slovenly earth floats eons below

As I am transported to a euphoric heaven

Your rubber underbelly is a vanguard to tranquility and union

My mind becomes still

And then is blanketed with nothingness

My vexations are removed

Like a great boulder from atop a mountain

It is there that my anguish will dwell

Until Sisyphus himself claims them

Conquerors of all terrain, you float back down to earth

Bringing me in tow

Achieving great feats, you stamp “triumph” into the impressionable brown mud

Oh beloved running shoes!

Your mesh structure beams in satisfaction

As you cross the finish line

Verbose distances you have covered to retrieve what was lost of mine—lucidity

Intact and well again, I thank you for your service

Humbly you nod

 Accepting of my blessing

Permeated in mire, perspiration, and fulfillment

You take residence in the cupboard once again

You quietly relish in today’s accomplishments

But beware, the great cerebral empire will fall again