Winter 1991, a poem

One of my dear friends growing up in Conyers, GA, was Ryan E. Crais. I think we just about covered all of the county running together from 1990-1994. We ran early, we ran late, we ran short and we ran long. Ryan was a freshman student at Georgia Tech when I was a senior in high school. As a part of my training regimen for wrestling, I would run at night. I had a number of different routes from my family’s house on White road which varied in length but encompassed a beautiful and distinctively rural landscape. Ryan would run with me 4-5 nights a week. We used the time to catch up with one another and pounded a lot of pavement together. The pace most always went from fast to maniacal, but that is how we liked it. Runs in the winter evenings are what I remember most and are the backdrop for the following poem I wrote a few years ago. Ryan is now an officer in the United States Military and has served our country with distinction. Thank you, Ryan.

Winter 1991
e.m. moulton 2002 for r.e. crais

Frozen patches of field grass
Stood at full attention for our coming,
Glistening under the canopy of stars
And the round, papery moon

We swore we were gazelles
Cutting into the night
On the fuel of dreams and
Dare I say grace?

We knew the world waited.
Cruel. Dark. Glorious. Attainable.

The torrid pace was never enough
To prevent the sensation of slowness
And near stand-still, like reflections
On languid water

We traversed the countryside,
Talking mostly and listening
Until words ran their course,
Giving way to cadenced breath
And elongated shadows
Dancing under starlight

Until all went frozen
Beneath a blanket of winter air-
At that moment we launched above all-
Kairos. A time outside of time.
We were timeless-
And young