You Can’t Out Run the Pain
Always there, always knew where to find me
Never understood my pain. Not the pain
of a broken man, but the pain of one
damaged by his own stupidity. Always thought
pain was a straight line, a face-to-face,
man-on-man thing. It finds you, calls you out,
you stand up and wait for the mauling. It always
knew where to find me, any happiness
in my life like kicking its lair, one second me
smiling toward the skies, the next wrestling
in the gravel with my old friend. Soon it
taught me pain is a circle, what was once
in front of me now behind. I ran, I hid, but
there it is again, nose-to-nose with me asking
for its due… demanding my sanity… stealing
my fleeting moments of sunshine. Finally,
I grew weary of the race, stopped running,
accepted pain as a friend, my companion
for life. Once faced, it became tame, always
still there, just running now slowly behind me,
nipping me on the ass now and then to let
me know its teeth are still sharp in case I forget,
but its presence made me stronger, keeps me
running, but I am no longer afraid.
