Running . . . Again . . .

      Today one of my friends from graduate-school days in Oklahoma is running in the Boston Marathon and, while following her progress on my I-phone, I have been thinking about the role of running in my own life; for me, running has been a way of releasing tension -- some exercise and good breathing.   Years ago Theodore Roethke's villanelle "The Waking" (available here) inspired me to write "Running" -- and I offer it below:

    Running      Response (by JoAnne Growney) to “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke 

       My sleep is brief.  I rise to run again,
       to flee the doubts that catch me when I'm still.
       I live by going faster than I can.

       I feel by doing.  What's to understand?
       I eat and drink and never have my fill.
       My sleep is brief.  I rise to run again.

       I'm useful and adored.  Supporters throw grand
       parties in my honor, courting my good will.
       I live by stepping higher than I can.

       Restless at night, I reach and find a hand
       to hold and squeeze, to drop with guilt —
       after brief bothered sleep, I rise and run again.

       I lack companions.  Friendship’s madly bland,
       and no one keeps my pace in search of thrill.
       I live by going faster than I can.

       Motion holds me sane and so I run,
       but the pace that keeps me lucid also kills.
       My sleep is brief.  I rise to run again.
       I live by going faster than I can.

Information about the poetic structure of a villanelle is available here.

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