Stop Running

Movement is life

Be busy

That’s what everybody said

Phone rings

I tell her

I run for an hour a day

Some days more

Long pause

Hate pauses

Hate phones

Stop running

Deliberate and concerned

Not an order

Not a command

A hope

A suggestion

A nudge

A note from love

Advice carefully thought

Lessons hard learned

Stop running

Movement was my escape

Movement was my excuse

Movement was life

Movement was everything

Movement meant not thinking

Movement was running away

Stop running

I didn’t want to understand

I didn’t want to stop running

I’d been doing it all my life

Run and run and run

Keep moving

Keep busy

Keep working

Keep talking

Keep eating

Keep drinking

Keep having fun

All is movement

Stop running

I didn’t

And then she was gone

Forever

I stopped running

Now I sit in silence

Now I understand

I am present

I am alone

I feel pain

I feel sorrow

I will grow

I am still