Running Early
Early dark running on fall's last warm morning
I develop new shoes blisters
high and low on the plimsoll veins
of my feet... and it begins to rain...
each step agony,
I walk into gardens
of the houses along Detroit's rivers,
and untie my brand new shoes
sewn by children slaves in some far land
beyond the scope of hundred-eye TV...
remove my socks
and walk barefoot
along the sleek black rainy asphalt.
No longer do I practice safe-running habits,
the blood runs from my open sores
onto the rainy street, in payment for
the globalization of desire
and retribution
that it brings:
fearful of broken glass bottle shards,
gingerly stepping in chiaroscuro,
street lights glow brazen like Roman arms,
and my only apostles were the night,
those shoes,
and my wet socks!
As we tramp our way to Calvary!
--
notes
plimsoll - plimsoll markings on the sides of boats
--
2 comments:
So wonderful. Each word is chosen well, and when I get to chiaroscuro the painting is rich, but the next lines, hardly seeming possible, improve the scene even more. Barefoot redemption, I'm with you!
And have you heard about the running trend toward barefoot running! Nike messed up feet apparently.
Thanks, Ruth. I am not so sure "redemption" is what is indicated, however... by casting myself in the main role, there is an indication that "Calvary" is not the same thing at all.
I have run for 45 years... before Nike. It became obvious years ago that it was not about running, but was about profit per shoe sold.
If you recall "The Big Chill", Kevin Kline's character was the owner of a running shoe company, and he was a very sympathetic character and a focus of the film.
We have become so encapsulated in our consumer cocoons, that it is a revelation to us that early mankind ran barefoot.
So what is barefoot? A return to nature? A casting off of the old taboos against baring unbeautiful or possibly odoriferous parts of the body?
Everything is Media...
Just run.
Run is action-art. Forget word and sign for an hour.
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