462. The Sinner

Pulled apart. I come undone.

From the start I’m forced to run.

Run from one point to another.

I am me and then the other.

Words confound. I spin in place.

I make no sound. My words: they race,…

Inside myself where they collide,

And try to escape to the outside.

Drained and weak. I grip my heart.

I can’t speak. I’m torn apart.

My heart beats, and beats, and beats,

While inside, history repeats.

Pulled apart. I come undone.

Will this fight ever be won?

For as in war, there are no winners.

There are no saints, only sinners.

K. Aldaya, 12/28/18

Picture: https://rightsinfo.org/excluded-schoolchildren-at-serious-risk-of-knife-crime-and-youth-violence/

458. Runaway

My body fights while my mind runs away.

How can I get it to stop running, and stay?

My body, it lives, though my mind…it plays dead;

And quite convincingly, acts as brainless instead.

You do not know me…as I am not there.

I hide and you do not notice or care.

You call me a moron for being unaware;

As I run further away in despair.

What can I do? And what can I say?

To make my restless, broken soul stay?

I look out, trapped behind my eyes,

And it’s no longer me who hurts or cries.

My body fights while my mind runs away;

Though sometimes I wonder…why should it stay?

K. Aldaya, 10/25/18

Picture: http://discovermagazine.com/2012/jul-aug/05-ways-to-leave-your-body

251. Morning Run

The morning air is clear and fresh;

And whimsical as a fairy.

She spreads her wings and dances,

Through my skin to carry,…

Me on my way.

My heart beats and prances.

The sun is rising up from sleep.

“Good-morn to all”, she beams.

I greet with a yawning bow;

And just as fair water streams,

I flow and shine,

Run wet with sweat on brow,…

Stronger in my dreams!

K. Aldaya, 08/29/03

Picture: Photo from the campus of Duke University and Durham, North Carolina: Photographer Unknown; http://law.duke.edu/gallery/84&pil=5