I went for a run today
to test out my lungs, my back,
my once-strong core
Here, miles from home
the streets offer no reference point
So I run not knowing what to expect

Every foot-strike
echoes back the memory
of several falls--each,
with their own, signature pain

One year

One year
Nestled deep in these muscles,
these bones
I dig in, hug my spine
and keep running

I continue through
a cemetery trail
It's quiet, pretty
There is nothing to know
of the lives
beneath the stones I pass
But they are my markers--
Increment by increment

At the centre of the cemetery
A path, lined with Texan flags
slopes up towards the exit
Above it stands a great
Lone Star

I fix on it,
As the billowing, spectator-flags
wave me out

I wave back
and leave the graveyard