With trepidation, I ran today
and with elation, I ran all of the way.
In some other world, life, parallel
universe, I’d have stopped; gathered
breath, and what’s left of myself; tired; hung up on
not being good enough,
and slumped back home – God, hoping not to have been noticed.
Not today.
My veins coursed to surge
blood through my body – pumping
endorphins to keep me going.
I sweat, but I do not beat
myself down to the ground
and worry what others thought
in cars or houses or on the street.
If judgement would come,
it would come from me.
I ran, I ran, I ran, I ran, I ran,
and I kept on running
just to feel the earth beneath
my feet, and the cool air on my face
in the surprise of April’s heat.
I. James
Isabelle is a 24-year-old PGCE English student at the University of Cambridge. Her Poetry has been shortlisted for the South Yorkshire Young Writers’ Competition 2018.
The Composite Review 