POETRY: A Running Journey

A Running Journey



Just when you think

That all is done

Or finished...



You've run the course, passed the markers

And watched with hidden concern

The other runners passed ahead and behind

Some whom you left behind gladly

Others... you wonder... why don't they look back?

Without intending, you've curved around

Returned not to the start...

But rather crossing places and people you've seen

They seem different now, perhaps because they are

Or you are.



Familiarity reminds, refreshes, teaches...

And while running backwards to relive a moment isn't an option,

Intersecting is, in contrast, not only an option, but a necessity



For if we never look back... never cross a path once traced

We miss places, faces... that should not be missed.



To run constantly forward without looking back...

Or to stop running so as to avoid uncertainty ahead...

One is stubborn and unwise

The other, foolish and cowardly.



The answer, then, is to run with reflection and determination.

Not necessarily upon the straightest path...

Nor the path with the clearest markers,

But rather, upon the path that matters.

Only then can you be content, knowing that your travels were done

Not for the destination, but the journey.



written by Adam Lasnik on August 29, 1995