There are no words to describe the tragedy that happened yesterday in Boston. I was not there and I am not a runner. But I am an athlete and my friends are athletes. I have gone to their events and sat in the stands, cheering them on, anxiously waiting for them to finish. As I watch the news and wait for truth to unfold, I think same thoughts as the rest of the nation.
This morning, Scott Poole, a poet who I deeply respect and had the opportunity to work for in the past, posted this poem on Facebook hoping that someone from Boston would see it and his words would help them heal. Through the magic of social media, his poem caught the attention of Boston’s NPR station, WBUR, and they’ve asked him to read it tomorrow on their show Here and Now. And it is my pleasure to share it with you.
Thinking of Boston.
To Run
a prayer for Boston by Scott Poole
To run
is to rise above the weak spirit
is to take on pain
is to push pain in the chest
with both palms
stumbling over garbage,
gravel, fragments of life,
is to say I will take you
on in the street.
Every breath of mine
is a battering ram,
shoving, crushing,
swinging a hammer of air.
I am a body of fast moving blood
inhaling you
taking you in like a tank.
I will consume your hate.
I will run straight into you
as if you were a finish line of joy,
picking up the fallen along the way
and you will never stop me,
you will never
stop me.
Image via Live Wire Radio
