Race
If life is a track
Why am I the one that’s falling behind
All my life I’ve been running
I’m faster than most people
But if life is a track
Why are they running faster than me
I lag behind while watching everyone I know run forward with nothing holding them back
My legs give out on me
I fall to the ground and struggle to get back up
It’s no use
There’s no point getting back up if all that’s left for me is watching everyone run by
Out of nowhere I’m picked up
Pat on the back and told to keep running
Keep striving for the gold medal
I run and run with this entity of safety beside me
I run and run and run, wait
Where’d they go
Why aren’t they running with me
I look forward and see them helping up another someone
Why am I jealous
I don’t deserve the right to be jealous
When I was on the ground I was nothing
When they picked me up I was nothing
When I was running I was nothing
I slip
I reach out desperately hoping to find someone to latch onto
I crash to the ground once again
I watch as they run with this other someone while I’m still laying here on the ground
Bruised from the fall
If life is a race
How will I find the strength to run
When my legs are crippled below me
5 thoughts on "Race"
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Thoughtfully articulated!
The return to the opening question works well here and conjures the image of the return to the “fonish line” that occurs over and again in a race.
Glad you’re here, dude.
I hope you find community in the collective words herein.
Hopefully, not sure about it yet though.
I feel the weight of the run from the side, Part of me wants to scream you didn’t lag behind while watching everyone you know run forward. You took a giant leap by putting it on the page.
I’m with Fanny. Leaping is one way to get through living. No matter how nothing one feels, no one is ever nothing, even when caught doing nothing we are doing something. And life often seems like a race and if it is each of us run at our own pace. Sometimes our purpose is to sit back, watch others run like rats, write about the hopelessness of the effort put into living that seems to be without any return on our investment. This observing often leads to learning. This is a very heavy poem filled with despair, yet I feel hope and discovery in every sentence. Well done.