The Runner

*Another poem to share with you*

The Runner
A soaking rain blankets the
landscape,
raindrops cluster into puddles of
mud on the forest floor
And there he stands, unaware
of nature's fury,
Concerned only with the task at hand.
Then he takes a step,
And is gone.

Fresh air in his lungs,
He knows no limits.
He moves effortlessly, gracefully,
Gliding across the open terrain.
And then....all motion ceases.
Sweat pours
down his sculptured frame,
As he savors the sensations
he has endured.

Fatigued, his mud encased legs
struggle to hold him straight
His arms down at his sides,
Taking in great gasps of nature's fuel,
Another run completed.

--Conrad Haber, '99 graduate,
Washington Township H.S., Sewell, N.J.