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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
His Worn Out Running Shoes
[for Thomas Augustus Robinson,
R.I.P.
March 16, 1938 – November 25, 2012.]
what has become of his records
have they still not been broken
up there
in the top three finishing,
winning bronze, silver or gold
here among the
fastest runners
anywhere on the globe, competing for gold
I know a lot
about having been young once
of being at the pinnacle of life
candle
flame-like or torch-like
flame the wind is unable to blow out
I know of
fires dying, leaving embers, going out
leaving coals to cool and then to
go cold
I know how ice feels under my feet, upon my face
upon my head and
in my fists
I have walked through falling snow
we must all know the way
to go through this life
the uphill climb, the descent into the valley of
death
but not before what we were born to do is achieved
had the good
fortune to see him run once
at Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre
how old I
was I am unable to recall
saw him compete, Tommy Robinson
against George
Collie
it was over in a flash, a dash, a heat
these two runners scorching
past me
past the other spectators present
recall the false start, gun going off a
second time
to stop the race, the runners
the first shot had just started
recall
Tommy chuckling at it all
returning to the starting line
recall how
short his neck seemed
it seemed he drew his shoulders up
or his head
down, to hide his neck
but a short neck was all the neck he had
what he
had was speed
the race was started once again
and in a few swift seconds,
it was finished
and he had won and George Collie
had come second
it is
true about who wins the silver medal
Tommy Robinson, present in the news
and in our lives ever since
George Collies, though he was close behind
has been as it were, blown into oblivion
gone into oblivion, left out of history
though I am
smart, is it because, similarly,
I am second-best - why I seldom surface
why
my picture is not on the money
not on a stamp, a school or a library
or
not yet - because I have not won
I have not been number one like Tommy was
winning gold like he did, ahead of all the world
ahead of everyone
always here at home
however close behind, who was second
it was his back you saw
because he was
as quick as a flash
he burned up the track he traveled over
as if the
shoes he wore were made of flames
or because he'd cause them to catch
fire
because he went so fast
you scratched a match and the match was
over
and he was winner after having burned so bright
he's in a coffin
now, its lid about to close for good
hide from
the world, who has been so visible
fortunately for me,
I can play over again
and as often as I
wish,
that evening I saw him race George Collie
and won, as easily as a
monkey is able
to peel a banana
© Obediah Michael Smith, 2012
1:57 p.m. 04.12.12
© Copyright 2012 by thebahamasweekly.com
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