Lower Body Motion

by hurricanejessica

Surely you have known the satisfaction of the first steps
before your muscles are kneaded by the hard fingers of fatigue:
the indescribable lift of the air pulsing past your form.
But the air is not moving,
you are.
And you are in control of everything.
And you decide your destination, and when
and whether
you will arrive.

And so you
support: your foot an anchor
and drive: your foot a spring
and recover: your foot a wing
until you don’t know which is better,
gravity’s ground or your push against it.
Perhaps it is the comfort of the back and forth:
pull versus propulsion,
force versus flex.

Pheidippides, you must be careful
how long you engage in this locomotion.
You must listen when your pulse is pounding
out morse code,
“Stop fighting.
We have won.”

I do not doubt that you can endure
long enough to reach me.
But what a pity it would be
for you to arrive in my arms
only to succumb to a permanent exhaustion
after you relay to me
your news.