RUNNING AT STILLWATER
Running the unforgiving woods and puddles at Stillwater I peer up through bare branches glimpsing the sky so maybe the miles will feel shorter cold water shocks me
splattering my knees I come back a red uniform too tired to speak we run on and cresting the hill all I can hear is our sharp breaths not enough for greedy lungs
one mile says Iren and the world blurs and refocuses my legs will fail me soon is all the mind can think but the burn continues hearing crunchy leaves scattered rocks or
roots we jump stumble over mud patches only two of us in twisting forest and trail mocking my legs heavy as lead shoes waterlogged and squelching I cannot give
up our gasps thoughts scatter a flock of sparrows feet slap pavement shins cry like never before but there’s no time first we race against others but now the brain
turns on itself and no matter how hard fists teeth clench I want to laugh painfully why did I start legs carry me past people bleachers around the fence
slightly askew I cannot but I must and finally slow one foot in front don’t throw up please no more Let’s go Cynthia someone in the distance
the key turns calves and lungs scream cruising along on nothing just a cheer glaring white stripes red the track the final stretch Iren is forty
meters thirty twenty meters finish strong the engine screams too fast we’re sprinting too fast those last seconds oh the sweet
temptation but no my elbows pumping hardest in my life and it was then I decide never to be a quitter line crossed slow
burned Bend over mind folds limp by vision’s edge excited red uniforms say you’re done I wonder dimly why they smile
you did it they say
—from 2022 Rattle Young Poets Anthology
__________
Why do you like to write poetry?
Cynthia Zhang: “I always loved writing stories, ever since I was a tiny kid, and wrote a very long book with my friend, who lived all the way across the world. I got interested in poetry when I was in eighth grade, and I enjoy it because it describes and relieves very personal feelings. Often times I get bored (which was especially the case during quarantine), and poetry gives me something to direct my concentration at. Also, other famous poets provide great inspiration to me, such as Nazim Hikmet, William Carlos Williams, James Wright, and Robert Frost.”
