The Marathon Runner | Teen Ink
  1. Home
  2. Poetry
  3. Free Verse
  4. The Marathon Runner

The Marathon Runner

July 12, 2013
By EPluribusUnum DIAMOND, Woodbine, Maryland
More by this author
EPluribusUnum DIAMOND, Woodbine, Maryland
59 articles 24 photos 280 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; <br /> I lift my lids and all is born again.<br /> (I think I made you up inside my head).&quot;<br /> -Sylvia Plath

View profile

I ran from birth, feet kicking, face scrunched and smeared with blood,
they had to cut me out.

I ran from fireworks
and my friend's hyper husky
and learning to ride my bike.
I ran from shadows
and monsters
and flushing the toilet at night,
because I was convinced it would eat me.
I ran from my dad's ghost stories,
except for one time
when he had me slip away in the middle
and then scare my family with a distant scream at the end.
The ghost was called Screamer.

I ran from moving,
but it didn't work.
I ran from new schools
and new teachers
and new friends,
but I found them anyway and I loved them.

Then I ran from home.
I ran from speaking
and hot summer days
and scary kids my age
who cussed and hit
and kicked up dust,
they spat in my chapped virgin ears.

I ran from balls
on the playground.
During gym they laughed at me and called me names.
I ran from them.
I ran ran ran ran ran
but they let me know I was a terrible runner
so I ran from running too,
I ran until I couldn't run
and then I ran from life itself.

I ran from ghosts.
I ran from music.
I ran from time.

Time passed, someone took my hand,
and though I didn't see their face
we ran from hell.

Now I'm running towards things.
Towards heart breaks and futures
and chocolate covered sunflower seeds,
which my dad used to mail home from Korea
the year he was away,
but I've discovered in the Home Goods
an hour from my house.
I'm run run running
towards hospitals and disasters and scars on my legs
and also towards a beautiful thing called recovery.
But all this running
is wearing me out.

I think, for a while...

I think I might walk.

© Julia R., Bethesda, MD

The author's comments:
I wrote this for a prompt about repetition at camp and I really like how it turned out.
Post a comment
Submit your own

Similar Articles

Previous Next
Poetry
Brother
By Anonymous
Poetry
The Unraveling Scarf
By kiwi12 PLATINUM
Austin, Texas
kiwi12 PLATINUM, Austin, Texas
28 articles 10 photos 365 comments
View profile
Poetry
Breathing
By costarican93 GOLD
Washington, Louisiana
costarican93 GOLD, Washington, Louisiana
14 articles 0 photos 33 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;The city looks so pretty do you want to burn it with me?&quot;- Hollywood Undead

View profile
Poetry
cry
By carreyelaine GOLD
Arlington, Tennessee
carreyelaine GOLD, Arlington, Tennessee
12 articles 4 photos 1 comment
View profile
Poetry
The World of the Present
By Lost-In-Life GOLD
Whitby, Other
Lost-In-Life GOLD, Whitby, Other
11 articles 0 photos 299 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s never to late, if it weren&#039;t for the last minute many things would never get done!

View profile
Poetry
Monotonous Individual
By ImDumbStruck DIAMOND
Springfield, Virginia
ImDumbStruck DIAMOND, Springfield, Virginia
61 articles 0 photos 82 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;If at first you don&#039;t succeed, destroy any evidence.&quot;

View profile

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 4 comments.

EPluribusUnum DIAMOND said...
on Sep. 9 2013 at 8:44 pm
EPluribusUnum DIAMOND, Woodbine, Maryland
59 articles 24 photos 280 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; <br /> I lift my lids and all is born again.<br /> (I think I made you up inside my head).&quot;<br /> -Sylvia Plath

View profile
I hope not! :D
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND said...
on Sep. 9 2013 at 1:27 pm
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I&#039;ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. <br /> - Maya Angelou <br /> When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn&rsquo;t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out<br /> The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay<br /> If love produced a blossom/I&rsquo;d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I&rsquo;d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven<br /> And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

View profile
EM, will you ever stop impressing me?? !!!
EPluribusUnum DIAMOND said...
on Sep. 8 2013 at 8:06 pm
EPluribusUnum DIAMOND, Woodbine, Maryland
59 articles 24 photos 280 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; <br /> I lift my lids and all is born again.<br /> (I think I made you up inside my head).&quot;<br /> -Sylvia Plath

View profile
Awh, that is so nice. I'm really glad you like it! :) At the risk of bragging, I was asked to submit this one to my camp's website and they had it up on the front page for a week or so which was really, really cool.
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND said...
on Sep. 8 2013 at 6:21 am
SaphiraBrightscales DIAMOND, Islamabad, Other
75 articles 16 photos 1136 comments

Favorite Quote:
I&#039;ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. <br /> - Maya Angelou <br /> When i was little/I used to point a chubby finger toward the dark sky/And ask my father/why some stars moved and others didn&rsquo;t/He would laugh and explain that some were airplanes/I still wish on them today ~ Laugh-It-Out<br /> The feathers of a crow are black/The ink of my pen is blacker/The pain of my heart is blackest~ Mckay<br /> If love produced a blossom/I&rsquo;d take it in my palm/What a blessing, the bright color!/How soothing, such a balm!/I&rsquo;d keep a petal for my own/The rest, drop from my hands/For such a flower would multiply/And populate the lands~ thesilentraven<br /> And I began to rival legends/Long entombed before my birth./But for all my much envied fame/The lust for more would not abate./The plaques and prizes with my name/Will, like all things, disintegrate. ~ TheEpic95 now known as Helena_Noel

View profile
.....wow...wow....and wow. I just don't know what to say Em. It's like, it's your whole life's story in this one. Also it's all so poetic and the imagery and every other kind of description makes it all so vivid that I am simply going to say that i love this. it's going into my favourites.