As I ran today I looked down at my legs ...
strong , moving forward , smooth .....
a lil buzz ran through my body, a shiver , a smile ....
I stopped .
I stood looking first at my thighs
then towards the mountains ....
breathing
breathing ....
in out .
Slow.
Breathe slow .
Fill up , let it go
.... a flash memory and another twinge....
I stretched and looked around ....
looked at my phone .
nothing.
I rubbed my palms down my thighs
Keep running, it will stop
I rubbed my palms down my thighs
Keep running, it will stop
Ch ..... ch......ch....
the sound of the gravel crunching as I run in almost perfect cadence to the metronome
...180 ....
my feet remember the stride as my mind drifts again ....
Your hand reaching with ease to the passenger side and arriving perfectly on my thigh .
Warmth and slight heaviness,
a gentle squeeze and movement that was so comfortable I didn’t flinch .
I looked down at that hand, as you drove to nowhere with the other....
not looking at me or changing expression.
a gesture that now has me unsteady within its memory.
I traced your fingers along the top, felt the soft spot between the thumb and finger,
touched your ring.
your hand moving to hold mine,
perfectly fitting.
cadence....cadence....look out, lean forward...
for a mile the breath comes uneven then starts to find it's place with the legs and heart.
mind begins to wander again.
keep running towards the horizon...
walking quietly side by side, not speaking, unsure
your hand grazes my back with a protective like move as the door opens.
the back of our hands graze each other with closeness and I feel your finger latch lightly around mine.
weakness....don't move away...
faster I run and break cadence, fuck it, running to a visual point in the distance.
running as fast as I can telling my brain to not stop running until I am there.
I run faster and faster in order to be done.
done
I can't breathe
I stop and bend over, holding my side...
the tears come, hot and dry quickly in the heat.
my heart heaves with lack of breath
strong legs,
keep moving forward.
I can't
breathe
my brain throwing thoughts left and right
why has this happened
it's ok
you are ok
I look at my phone again.
nothing
again
except a running timer saying to move.
telling me to move
come on
do something
I start to head back
tears burning my eyes.
that feeling
a feeling my touch can't fix.
a feeling that comes so often now I want to scream
my stride has shortened and my cadence is off
I walk and my breathing is uneven
walk, breathe, walk, breathe
hands on my waist
I squeeze
feeling
what you
felt
mind wanders
pull me towards you
pushed back against the car
hands lifting me up and wrapping around me
gently sitting me onto the seat of the car.
breathe, breathe, breathe
looking at the mountains
I know life is beautiful
life is complicated
but it is also
often
tragically perfect
undeniably
perfect
write ya later,
xo,
m
ps I write letters, I write so many letters and they sit in a folder waiting to either destroy me or destroy someone else.
the heart is a lonely hunter some may say,
but my heart is a beautiful writer


