Once or twice a year, I’m lucky enough to get a poem or story published. One of my pieces appears in the 2005 edition of the Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar, which arrived in local bookstores this week (you won’t find it outside the state). The calendar, which is set up in appointment book style, is not a prestigious publication but it is well-designed. While it’s not about gay issues or sports, those topics are as welcome as any. Here’s the poem....
A Core Course for Runners
I’m running the lakeside path again,
past the last shards of March
melting along the shore. This body
built on bone strides silently,
as light as the breath on my lips.
An hour in, quads and calves propel
themselves, knees keep leading me forward
and time becomes a seamless stream.
Doesn’t matter that I will never be
much of an athlete, that I will
never run fast or win a race.
This body is a quiet current
of muscle and pulsing blood.
I am altogether alive in glistening skin.