Dedication:
	I Will Run                                               I stumbled,                                                    tumbled, really;                                                    gasping,                                                         my legs a tangle of flesh,                                                              but at last,                                                                   at last,                                                                        the finish line was behind me...                                               Weak with an incoherent and senseless bliss,                                                    I lay on my back,                                                         gazing listlessly at the blue and white ballet…                                               I was on the secure side of finished;                                                    safe at last.                                               Do I miss the race?                                                    …the sweat;                                                    the exhaustion;                                                    the inability to jump through idiotic hoops;                                                    breathing through my mouth;                                                    sucking the air between parched lips                                                         because my nostrils were too small;                                                    the swollenness of my tongue                                                         making my speech                                                              thick and drunken and constantly misunderstood;                                                    my countenance of such twisted deformity                                                         the one closest to me was made fearful;                                                    the soft pleading voices within,                                                         whispering,                                                         whimpering,                                                              rest,                                                              rest,                                                                   just a moment’s rest,                                                                   just a brief respite from the pain,                                                                       while the snarling taskmaster growls and curses,                                                                       disgusted to be hobbled with such despicable mortality…                                                Do I miss the heartache,                                                     the overwhelming sense of failure                                                          awaiting me at the end of each day?                                                Do I miss the saline vision of my children,                                                     the innocent commended to my care;                                                     children wide-eyed with naivety and trust;                                                     children forever refused entrance to the Piper’s Mountain,                                                          never to experience,                                                          never to effortlessly sink their bruised and bloodied fingers                                                               into the warm and sacred rock;                                                      forever to be numbered with the brokenhearted?                                                Do I miss that?                                                Do I miss that?                                                Why would anyone even ask?                                                Of course not!                                                Of course not!                                                Are you blind?                                                Are you deaf?                                                Are you stupid?                                                Have you no soul?                                                Of course not!                                                Thinking myself blessed,                                                     I put it all behind me,                                                          letting a blanket of numbness cover me.
		I Will Run:  page two