NOT ALWAYS TO THE SWIFT [W, 6-12-24]

BEYOND WINTER: The Irrelevant Musings of an Old Man—NOT ALWAYS TO THE SWIFT [W, 6-12-24]

 

NOT ALWAYS TO THE SWIFT

I was neither fast nor elegant

I won no medals, no ribbons

no accolades, no laurel wreaths

but I gloried in the hard

pounding of feet and heart

the simple joy of enduring

When I could no longer run

there was loss, yes

regret, even grief

but relief as well

for running is

hard sweaty work

with expectations

by those who stand

along the roadside

to watch the race unfurl

and, more, much more

to reckon with

by the one who runs

I think that must be

the way of death

Loss, regret, grief

but relief as well

No more expectations

by those who watch

or by the one who runs

Just relaxing

into the everlasting arms

 

John Robert McFarland