Sprint

I am running away from you
Because there is no point
In trying to get you to
Come along with me

We’re at different paces
Our strides never to coincide
And so I move on–

Now I’m taking four steps per second
Where with you only three-and-a-half
I can sustain this pace for a mile
Before I have to slow down–

Chest congestion is always a limiting factor
I start to get a bad case of the sniffles
As I try to ingest more and more air
The faster I run when I am congested
The exertion seems to break up whatever
It is that keeps my breathing from being
Less constrained

Sometimes when I run
I wish I had a box of tissues
Because the runny nose gets really bad–

When I do slow down
It’s only for five minutes at the most
Then the pace increases again

The cycle repeats until a measely hour is over
Sometimes I hit over seven miles
Sometimes only six-and-a-half

I used to push myself to
Run faster
Run farther

But after a certain point
What is the point?
An hour is enough
Because most people
Can’t even do that