Running and Hiding
We spent the night in the darkened playground
The silent burial ground of our childhood recollections
Filled with happy ghosts of the past
We played hide and seek with our memories
As we ran from the ticking hour
Trying to escape time

We spent the night
All running from something
All hiding from our own demons
Trying so hard to disappear from the pain chasing us
We almost forget the others
Running just as fast beside us
From their own personal hell as well

Hiding our faces in the dizziness
Induced by the dreaded tire swing
And running headlong into challenges
Of balance and strength
Of anything less personal than the conversation
That follows, “hey, you ok?”
Just to forget for a bit

Then lying in the darkness and smiling
Laughing, talking about anything but the truth
Hoping maybe it won’t find us here
But time doesn’t stand still
And the sheltering blackness of the night
Shatters under the weight of the oppressive curfews

Into the car
Into the fear
Return to the place you hid from
Return from the running
And wait for dawn
So you can run again