DAY 35: I stand accused, I stand
accused of enjoying the quarantine
I deny I protest I am innocent
and my thoughts go to next summer
my training continues for the
hard long trail I've planned
a hard long trail such as every
summer I walk: food, water
shelter on my back -- I alone
against the elements, embracing
the trail day after spectacular day --
now I am alone and again
surviving -- what if my excursions
were practice for refuge -- I
hear screams of the lost who
cannot leave home, what
tremendous suffering I can
barely feel -- screams of those
who have little food, no choc-
olate, no pizza pie -- have you not
also gone 2 x 20-mile days on
nothing, have you never got to
a dry creek counting on a
drink -- screams of those
alone with themselves a life as
of mirror imaging they cannot
stand after the first day
-- that's not my best friend,
I want to kill that stranger --
I hear all this suffering and
feel pity for those who are meeting
it for the first time, but
I don't offer my helping hand.
