The sky was a bruised and swollen purple,
bursting open above the slick asphalt.
While all behind me breathed its sour, familiar violence,
I bolted out into the sudden, roaring flood.
The rain was the only thing that ever touched my bare skin
without wanting to leave a mark.
It struck my shoulders like a thousand cold, pin-prick needles,
washing off the stale terror,
drowning out the sudden screams that lived in and around me.
I slammed my canvas boots into the black mirrors of the street,
a wild, breathless grin ripping open my face.
Murky, engine-slicked water exploded upward,
slapping my knees, soaking through my thin denim.
Every heavy splash was a deliberate riot -
I spun in chaotic circles, throwing my head back,
tasting the storm, a creature pure and unpunished.
It was a rare, ecstatic madness to just be small and playing.
And no one came out to seize my wrists.
No voice rose to call me filthy, or foolish, or loud.
The thunder clapped, but it asked for no apology.
For ten exquisite minutes, my laughter outran the noise,
the storm let me exist at my full, unsoftened volume,
and the water held me without demanding I break.
Bula, beloved childhood Alsatian
easily outran Aunt's Dalmatian
both guarded our front door
when street gangs were at war
like soldiers, they assessed situation ~
____________________________
Placed : 10th
Sponsor: Christopher Delegans
April 26
I grew up blind
The kind that fades away with the gaping eye of knowledge
word on the tip of every patriotic tongue was independence
Little did my shut brain know, sham was a better word for it
The physicality was removed, that is certain
But ideas and creeds are still sung, venerating them
It’s as if our souls were trained for the job-faultlessly
Yet freedom is cried out from the fantasy of the beholder
How could it be that they quantify us unchained?
When the model of sophistication and elegance embellished
Fall in the wondrous sculpture molded of anything but our culture
Language is deemed "uncouth,” evermore forgotten as ancestral splendor
Colonialism ended to let on a superior beneficial exploitation
What better shrewdness than one concocted in plain sight?
We’ve seen their pockets outgrow them with our gold, our dignity
While we’re outran by their wars, and still, we grow old-blind
The McCormick family loves wheels
We like bikes, trikes, mopeds and motorcycles
We like Fords, Chevys, Lincolns and Cadillacs.
We are also racers.
Others watch the Indianapolis 500
We like driving like we just left the pit crew.
Our ancestors started us on this journey.
We were having a race on Wednesday
When grandma got on a moped.
I am going to outrun these cycles! She said.
“Let grandma win! Let grandma win! “ we all yelled.
Unfortunately, the little McCormicks are competitive like us.
They outrode, outraced and outran grandma.
The last one to the finish line, she pouted all day.
I was smote by words
As a soldier with bullets
‘Til I harnessed their power
And they slight retreated lest
I would fire back
Then they came for my freedom
But they did not prevail;
No rights were forsaken
Because time outran evil
And faded to black.
Posing for cameras
That ran out of film months ago
Realizing this time I made it to December without cutting my hair
I struggle to stay in the moment
And dream of next year
Of “getting out”
Of this place I absolutely love
Dreaming of coconut milk
Rain in place of snow
And sunshine
I’m not sure if it’s better
I’ll still be me when I get there
And anxiety can cross the ocean without a plane
Either way
I need to find out for myself
Next year this will be then
Hopefully I’ve outran my anxiety by now
If my story be told, Lord, I’d have to confess,
I’m a rattlesnake scoundrel, no more and no less.
But I’ll bet even Jesus forgives me my vice.
Seems we both lost our shirt on a throw of the dice.
I’m a graceless, tasteless gamblin’ man,
A working class wager, a Labor Day scam.
Ask not what I’ll give ya, I don’t give a damn.
I’m just a hard gamblin’ man.
I’m a bitter-fruit flower, a weed to the root.
Keep a seven-inch lock-blade tucked in my boot.
See, if life’s been a lesson, then I ain’t learned sh*t.
I’m a bad bridge to cross and a good job to quit.
I’m a ruthless, truthless gamblin’ man,
A head full of fever, a mouth full of sand.
I tip the night porter with blood on my hand.
I’m just a hard gamblin’ man.
Don’t play games with my heart, girl, you’re messin’ with sin.
I’m a slick soulless devil. You ain’t gonna win.
If you’re tryin’ to bluff, I’ll be readin’ your mind.
If you’ve got a full house, I’ll have four-of-a-kind.
I’m a shameless, blameless gamblin’ man.
I’ve been to St. Louis. I’ve been to Japan.
Ain’t slept with a woman I never outran.
I’m just a hard gamblin’ man.
He ran, he raced, he got up and fled,
He sped from the thoughts in his mind,
He had to escape from his tormented world,
Evading the things he would find,
From the demon herself living deep in his head,
From her beautifully horrible voice,
From her words filled with honey covered rational views,
He was the one with a choice,
To stay and give air to these eyes that were dead,
Give time to what he knew was untrue,
Or to run and escape the clutch of fake real,
And become happy and better and new,
Yes, he outran those demonic words in his head,
The negative committee no longer hounds,
Now he walks with honest and healthy good thoughts,
His mind is now healthy and proud.
I must have run a thousand miles
But only remember a few.
Striving to move ahead
by whatever means I knew
I have missed so many stops
I could have enjoyed again,
But ambition outran satifaction
And I lost life's main conversation
Of remembering that time when.
I walk when I can, I dance when I can
I speak any day, when I choose
I even write without any muse
Your actions never reach, where I ran
I can live life how I want, in my life span
I can pursue all that I love and believe
What I do, will shine with what I weave
All your wrong doing, I outran
Heidi Sands
9/8/17
What I Accomplished
Today I made my way to school
I sat in back and played it cool.
I think of all I might have missed
and then I put them in a list.
Timmy told on Tommy for telling big fat lies
just below the window sill I found three dead flies.
Someone tripped poor Mary but no one would confess
they could see it skinned her knee and tore her favorite dress.
Billy's in big trouble! He got caught being bad!
The teacher and the principle just called his mom and dad.
Larry brought a rubber snake inside of his sack lunch
he showed it to Linda Lou and it scared her a bunch.
Jeffry told a joke today that made the teacher smile
I got one I might tell, but not til after while.
Betty stayed home from school, someone said she's sick
Stuart brought a sucker and gave everyone a lick.
Running as fast as I can I outran my older brother!
Trying just to beat him home and show my list to my mother.
Tomorrow is a brand new day and I'll make a brand new list.
Called if I hadn't come to school, the things I might have missed.
Edwin C Hofert
I don't remember what I miss
Or if I left it where it is
I wasn't going anywhere
And I sure did get there fast
No matter where I run
I can't outrun the past
But I've walked away from running
With nowhere left to go
Price check on isle 6 please
Was there a mark down on my soul
Never noticed no one noticed
The mask covering my fears
Carving lines upon my face
As time outran my tears
Emotions frozen into place
The mask demands a ransom
Payable in years
(Limerick)
Batman and Robin sped to their car
But the Joker outran them by far
Joker got in it
But he didn't fit
Then yelled" Guess have to throw my guitar!"
Dorian Petersen Potter
Aka ladydp2000
Copyright@2014
09.16.2014
A kaleidoscope
Of disturbing and enigmatic images
Flash now before my mind’s eye.
A cerebral menagerie,
Painted from long forgotten memories
That were tucked secretly away
In the back corner of my mental studio,
Are now being displayed
in my mind's personal gallery.
Shocking reminders of youth;
Blood red canvases
Depicting moments of cruelty and neglect,
Abstract images of confusion and loneliness
Various black and white photos
Of heart ache and pain
Are now arranged
in a horrific collage of misery before me.
An unscheduled showing,
To remind me of what I fought so hard to forget
And put behind me.
But as I reflect
And now admire the perplexing and unsettling collection
Laid out before me
I realize how I have successfully outran my past
I have painted a new life
Full of beautiful lines and brilliant colors
And now I find comfort within myself
As I now let my life reflect
The art my heart now produces.
A man and I were in a tent when we heard a lion roar.
I knew that I had to start running or I wouldn't be alive anymore.
That guy said "You must be crazy, a lion can't be outran."
But I didn't have to outrun the lion, I had to outrun that man.
The lion caught up to that man and ate him.
I was faster, that's why he met a fate so grim.
If I had been slower, I would've been that lion's dinner.
But I was very determined, that's why I was the winner.
If you and another person hear a lion, you'd better put on your running shoes.
And you'd better pray that you're faster or your life is something you'll lose.
(This is a fictional poem)
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