My mother was my first coach
With blonde hair
Boy cut
And big arms
Mama arms
That held the whole world once
Teaching me fast pace
Before baby steps, baby steps
Until you catch your breath.
Then Medina
With deep laughter
He made us tell jokes
To get out of push ups
He stuck out his hand
At the end of the chain link fence
Where I spat my blue gum out
Into his dark, and rounded palms
That led up to his yellow
Menger Cheetah
Cut off t-shirt
In the form of a tank top now
Insisting that I don't choke
While I
Breathe deep
In through your nose and
Out through your mouth.
Berkopes was bald
Like a military man
The boys said
From action movies
He smiled wide
As deep as he pushed
Toes
Toes
Toes
Up the hills
Behind the middle school
In the cool of
White morning
Over dew dropped grass.
Wingfield had short,
Dark hair
And my favorite
Green
For eyes
She had soft cheeks
Freckled
With a heavy stare
Eyes up
Knees up
Shoulders back and down.
Carter came easy
With t-shirts
And bike handles
Pushing up one hill
16X100
In mid September
He said
You're a natural
Teach your muscles to work when they're tired
Three steps faster and hold that pace.
The fastest kid I ever knew
With hair longer than my own
And a pink head band
He'd run six miles before he met me for our five
Dropping back to pace
He said it was all about staying relaxed
Potato chips
Between fingertips
Breathe deep
Because
It's all about
Staying relaxed.
Oct 1, 2013
Oct 1, 2013 at 5:03 AM UTC
My mother was my first coach
With blonde hair
Boy cut
And big arms
Mama arms
That held the whole world once
Teaching me fast pace
Before baby steps, baby steps
Until you catch your breath.
Then Medina
With deep laughter
He made us tell jokes
To get out of push ups
He stuck out his hand
At the end of the chain link fence
Where I spat my blue gum out
Into his dark, and rounded palms
That led up to his yellow
Menger Cheetah
Cut off t-shirt
In the form of a tank top now
Insisting that I don't choke
While I
Breathe deep
In through your nose and
Out through your mouth.
Berkopes was bald
Like a military man
The boys said
From action movies
He smiled wide
As deep as he pushed
Toes
Toes
Toes
Up the hills
Behind the middle school
In the cool of
White morning
Over dew dropped grass.
Wingfield had short,
Dark hair
And my favorite
Green
For eyes
She had soft cheeks
Freckled
With a heavy stare
Eyes up
Knees up
Shoulders back and down.
Carter came easy
With t-shirts
And bike handles
Pushing up one hill
16X100
In mid September
He said
You're a natural
Teach your muscles to work when they're tired
Three steps faster and hold that pace.
The fastest kid I ever knew
With hair longer than my own
And a pink head band
He'd run six miles before he met me for our five
Dropping back to pace
He said it was all about staying relaxed
Potato chips
Between fingertips
Breathe deep
Because
It's all about
Staying relaxed.
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