OLD RUNNER
-
Mike Jenkins (U.K.)
The kids are
imitating
Mocking as she
runs around the Rec.
It’s not what a
granny
Is supposed to be
doing,
She should be
knitting scarves.
They laugh like
donkey derbies
Behind her
failing, flailing arms.
It’s like she’s in
a bad dream
Against a wicked
wind gluing
Itself to every
limb.
To them a freaks
how, sideshow
From their humdrum
days
When even a kick
round’s a crime.
Her face is
lowered, determined
To beat the
taunting ground.
She’s orbiting the
city stream,
The playground and
the benches,
Dog barking at her
ankles a while ;
She is the planet we will reach,
Downing sun behind the trees
****