Weekday Run

Dedicated to my good friend, Ben, for his kindness and Christ-likeness, used by God to reawaken me to the love of my Savior during a difficult time in my life. Friendship is a beautiful gift, wonderfully mysterious too; cherish it!

Weekday Run
December 2008

My feet and mind run
over the day’s debris,
beat (It’s Friday) the beaten path
of Bolin Creek trail and memory—
why I started running
in the first place: Gibson Park,

Ben. He was the kind of kind
that made me laugh
at my vanity after a 5K.
“Who cares if you’re sweaty?—
You’re pretty.
Besides, your eyes become bluer
and get flecked with bits of sun-
shine after a good run.”
Come on? No—
he ended with “Come on,
up for another mile?”, smiled.
He understood the nature of friendship,
running ahead of me,
watching his feet as a way
of protecting mine (a few steps behind)
from rocks or roots or other dangers
between footfall and falling;
because he knew that I’d be admiring
the turning leaves,
and I knew he’d be listening
when I told him of yellows and reds
and all the transformations from green
that the season was causing in me.
He must have sensed my fear
of the spur of life
that started in my feet,
cut through calf and knee, thigh and side,
to leap into my heart beating faster,
because—just then—he looked
over his shoulder
to tell me not to give up.
“I’ll carry you if I have to.”
And he would’ve.
He led me
beside water fountains
to a seat in the soft grass
to slow the heart, catch breath,
and accept the gold of generous June.
Quiet in my tiredness and contentment,
he’d break his runner’s silence
with “I’ve been thinking…”
and surprise me each time: wisdom-, life-
words that seemed to belong to a man;
weighty words, strong enough to build upon.
He called forth some spring song
from my winter chest
before moving on
as friends do.