The Running Man

Leg over leg I watch Oh once great majestic man Stuffed with life and vigor Stood atop the world Champion Once conqueror of mountains Now crushed by pleasure Turned animal of desire Now the running re-claimer Of past honors Leg over leg I watch One step at a time His lungs smashing against his insides, As they fight for air, Against a nicotine choke hold Leg over leg I watch His feet They burn, Sprinting through a Savannah of flames The weight of his past gluttony slows him down And chains of sweets Bind him to a mountain of food; An animal Hungry for progress Leg over leg I watch A hurricane of alcoholic despair swells above him As a downpour of liquor whips his beast of a body And all that he has drank Tries to wash him away Leg over leg I watch His vision blurs, The distant mountains and clouds begin to swirl, The road ahead bends and buckles, His legs vanish beneath him And he greets the floor with open arms I watch His heart rages Trapped in a cage The animal pushes and pulls aggressively Painfully biting against his chest Until it finally becomes quiet Still Strangled by the smoke, grease and alcohol Silencing all who witnessed their reign of terror His body unmoving Just inches from the finish line Still I watch