Audrey Shankle

Audrey Shankle Poems

The Best Poem Of Audrey Shankle

Running Too Long

I've been running, running
hoping to catch up to you.
Even as boundaries physically held me from pursuit,
my life was still running, running,
chasing after you.

No matter my pace,
the finish line seemed always to elude me.
The child within me always denied loss
'What's love without war'
she would proclaim
and began running, running
all over again.

As a woman,
the child and I continuously quarreled.
she remained in the forefront of my maturity.
She never heeded the woman's speech:
'Love, in the absence of war, has peace! '

The laces, one day, became unbound
tightening them the child was stalled.
It was on this day the woman was finally able
to confront the wayward child

The woman softly proclaimed with a sigh;
'These shoes are tattered and they are worn.
They will keep unbinding, you've outgrown them.
You have to give up or life will pass you by.
You have to quit this ongoing race.'

The child's eyes were filled with love and hope and determination
that fueled her refusal to be swayed.
The woman cried because the child had not realized
the race was preventing mental growth
with her chronological age.

Still, she picked up the child and cradled her close.
As their mind and heart and soul began to merge
the child cried out as she witnessed the internal slum-
The pain, the anguish, the exhaustion of the chase
the woman had, through the years, shielded her from.

The woman is finally superficial of she and the child.
Yet the child often appears searching for her tattered shoes
but my resolve is now attached strong:
'Hush child, I've thrown them out they are long gone.
We've been running after him for far too long.'

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