One and the Same

I used to love the downhills best
Tapping the ground quickly, a bird taking off in flight 

for a few moments in time, again and again
Tap tap, flap flap

My body relaxed breathing
in the world breathing out the pain.
I ran because it was the only time
I was free from a world where who I was
Was already decided for me

With Running, each thought
was just of the next step
In that world everything
was as it should be
Tap tap, flap flap

That was then and this is now.
I love the uphills,
Where once I found pain & suffering
I find peace grinding pain into growth
The steeper the better.
Trails become the mortar
and my legs the pestle
Grind grind, grind grind

On one of these steep ascents
A herd of Mountain goats appeared
Agile, scaling the steep and rocky ledges,
the alpine environment
Providing them with protection
From predators

Their heads poking out of the clouds
Thick coats like snow
hooves grey as rock
For a moment I wondered
if they were real
Had the mountain come to life?

The animals and the mountain
telling a story
Where the mountain
didn’t end with rock and snow,
but with feet and hooves
Thick coats and eyes
above the clouds
As though the two were
one and the same. 

🏔 🐐

12/29/18