a poem for the New Year
by Rich Nelson
In my time I have met many people
Some for a passing moment
Some became a part of me
And I a part of them
Some of them were bold
Some of them were bolder
Some of them were strong
Some of them were stronger
Some had youth that seemed eternal
Streaming from a wellspring of joy
Others were aged from before the ages
Old before they ever knew young
Some lived fast lives in the slow lane
Some drove so slowly they made
Everyone behind them wait
More than their patience could bear
But there is one thing everyone I’ve
Ever met has been
It is simply our definition
We are all runners in the human
Race
We cry out
From the starting line
The bang of the gun ringing
In our ears
And from there we begin
At whatever pace life affords
At whatever pace we can muster
And we don’t stop
We can’t stop
We won’t stop
Until there is nothing left to do
But stop
The only thing that distinguishes us
One from the other
Is how we choose to run
The Race
Some of us run to win
Whatever the prize may be
Even if it is nothing more
Than the joy of running
We run to win
Some of us run to keep up
Never getting ahead
Never very far from the hand
Of the person in front of us
Trying to keep up
Some of us run for health
Knowing that with each step
We make the next one better
Even if the blisters try
To tell us otherwise
Some of us run to keep running
Knowing that if we slow down
It will be hard to get up to speed
Again, and so we keep running
To keep running
The wise among us run for fun
Dancing with the shadows beneath
Our feet, Not worrying about who
Is ahead of us or who might
Be closing in from behind
The foolish among us run for fear
Some are not foolish but scarred
Or scared, afraid that one missed
Step will mean our last
Running for fear of rest
Those who know how run with the wind
The light of the horizon skipping
Across their heads
Unconcerned with whether the light
Means sunrise or sunset
And some still run with a purpose
Knowing they cannot change the past
And cannot control the future
And so they run right now
For a cause beyond themselves
And all of these people
All keep on running
And the one thing that binds us
Is that we are runners
“Therefore, since we are surrounded
by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight
and the sin that clings so closely
and let us run with
perseverance The Race
that is set
before us”
I know of no secret
Shortcut, no path whose
Terrain is any less rocky
Than the one I’m on, for I
Am but a fellow runner
I have blisters too
And the pain has taught me
As only a true master
Teacher can teach you
To Endure
This I have learned no other way
In fact, there is no other
Teacher in all the world
Who wants to teach
This lesson
The blisters will come
They will sting
They will scream
Telling you to stop, but you
Cannot, and so
I know of no secret except for
This one small thing that has
Made all the difference
For me and my
Running, it is that
It is easier to run
When you have someone
Up front
Who knows
The Way
This small thing
May not seem like much
At first, and indeed
It is not much
At first
But something about it
Is just enough
To keep you going
When almost nothing
Else will
There is a point
In the run where it ceases
To be running and becomes
Something else
Altogether
There is a point
In the run where the effort
Becomes effortless
And the flow is carried by
Something or someone
Beyond
There is a point
In the run where movement
Ceases to be movement
And instead becomes
Stillness
And it is no longer you
That is pushing through space
And time, but rather
Time and space that pushes
Through you
And the key to this
Is to follow
The Runner
That is running The Race
before you
When I’ve been so humble
As to let the first runner
Set the pace for me
It’s kept me going
Simply by knowing
That the person in front
Of me could do it
And that was enough
To convince me that
I could keep going too
“So great a cloud of
Witnesses” have run
This path in their own
Lifetimes, and when we
Allow ourselves
To be caught up in the
Great whirlwind
Of those who have
Gone this way before
It is enough
To keep us
running
too
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