Fifty-Two Blue Beads
I walked in the local Relay for Life
In support of the Cancer Foundation
I have lost too many people that I love
To this horrible abomination
For each lap around the High School track
You received a white bead to put on a string
Every fifth lap resulted in a bead of blue
One full mile completed was its meaning
I started at 6:00 pm that night
After resting throughout the day
I was determined to walk 18 hours straight
As my contribution to help keep cancer at bay
My pledges totaled one hundred dollars a mile
Every blue bead helped me keep count
I wanted to collect all that I could
To bring in the top amount
Most teams consisted of many walkers
Who walked in shifts throughout the night
But my team was just a team of one
Like on a Spirit of St. Louis flight
At 6:15 I received my first blue bead
A four miles an hour pace
If I could keep this up throughout the event
I would surely win first place
(Not that that really mattered)
At 10:00 I had fifteen blue beads
And was already getting tired and sore
But I blocked all that right out of my mind
For the miles I had left were many more
The crowds on the track started thinning out
As the night grew dark and longer
At 3:00 am I got a second (or third) wind
And somehow was walking stronger
By 6:00 am I was practically walking in my sleep
My blisters were starting to bleed
By now I had a second string
To hold all the white and blue beads
At 11:00 am they announced, “One more hour to go”
Fresh new faces started to arrive
I kept plopping one foot in front of the other
Although I had a much shorter stride
When they rang the bell announcing the Relay was over
I finally sat down to count my blue beads
Fifty-two blue beads meant fifty-two miles
And five thousand, two hundred dollars for this need
They packed up the stages and removed all the trash
While in my warm sleeping bag I slept
Everyone was gone when I woke up again
But the promise to my loved ones I had kept
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