I Can Feel It Getting Closer (1998) Poem by Steven Smedley

I can feel it getting closer
the quicker I run the closer it gets to my back
I can’t outrun this
now breathing down my neck
I pick up all the slack
It seems as if the harder I work to get away,
the easier it is for it to stop me
Then suddenly the sun comes out,
no one is behind me as I sit underneath a tree
Looking all around to try and see
I can recognize where I am but I’m not lost
This place looks familiar, like a deja vu,
and then everything quickly was covered in frost
Now it got cold, I was knee deep in snow
as I started to slowly whistle while I walked
I heard a distant voice from a far,
by the second got louder, then before me it talked
“Wake up! ” It repeated over and over again,
and then I could have sworn it said
“Your late for work. Get out of bed! ”