Shadow Side Walking Poem by Bill Grace

With the thermometer at 80
At 9: 00 the Texas sun still casts
Shadows on our street
That help with walking.

How I admire – even envy –
The half my age neighbor
Who two gorgeous children later
Sheds their high wheeled stroller
Runs with such intensity
She is covered in sweat,
Much like my secret love Susan
Running in early morning
In see through mesh
Through the center of the seminary’s quad
Defying all expectation,
So Christina
Her shirt framing her neck
Much like an old fashioned horse collar
Bathed totally in sweat
The champion who was
The champion who is
Both champions
Bathed in their sweat
Of a secret battle.