I ran away from everything I knew.  I ran until my hips ached.

I ran from the setting sun until I saw where the sun rises

I ran past the cliffs

I ran through the salt

I ran past the windows of merfolk,

Saw them making love,

Saw their children playing

In the bands of the

illuminated depths

I ran past the great whale.

Which I saw only once

And I realized that solitude

loses something

when it loses choice

I ran on the beaches

and heard the rusty click

or landmines from a hatred

long ago.

I ran in the early morning

And washed my sneakers in the dew

as lovers stirred in the slumber

not yet aroused by the wafts

that were drifting from the open door

of the boulangerie

I ran – I ran harder now

the sun was behind me and no longer

did I enjoy playing

with my shadow

I ran and felt strength in my veins and my loins

Felt the rain pelt my forehead

Drum upon it like an an untethered heart

Felt the hope-sting of renewal

In the bite of the mosquito

 

All across the dry Sahara I ran

shoeless and unafraid

of the burning glass or the bite of the viper

At the mouth of the Nile

I gazed at the pyramids and grieved for the swallow and his Prince

 

I ran the spice road the silk road and the very long rails

drank the urine  and milk of the dromedary

smoked Nargileh and opium

 

i ran with the bears of Kamchatka

and thought of tigers that I would have to see

some other time

 

I ran until east became west

i ran until what I knew

was no longer something I ran from

I ran until what I knew

was the thing  I ran toward

I ran

I ran

I ran