I Ran - (Dane Grant - Jan '11)

(An old draft I found today which I started writing after a run I completed back in January 2011. The entire run eventually ended up being about 2h:30m long. The next morning, with full intention of only running to wind down from the previous day .... I did it all again. A brand new route, got lost in the run, and wound up back home again over 2hours later. Here's why...)


Laced up, capped on, watered in,
My journey then began.
Leaving front doors, automatic gates and electric fences,
... I ran.

Not sure of the destination, the route, or how long it would take,
I resigned myself to the fact that this was something I needed to make.

With a mind so cluttered,
All it took was one foot in front of the other,
I ran till it all went away.

I ran.

It all started with a focussed goal to simply clear my head,
Voices plaguing me all night, lying awake in bed.
I had no idea of what, or when, or how, or why even me,
Oh how different, this run would eventually be!

I ran and ran till it all went quiet, and then it flared up again,
Till new things entered my mind. Sometimes it got insane!
Till the pain arrived, and disappeared. I had no intention to stop.
This journey WILL CONTINUE, even if it meant I'd physically drop!

I ran.

Sometimes I looked ahead,
Sometimes I looked down,
There were times I stopped looking all together,
Just absorbing everything around.

The friendly waves and occasional hoots, to get me up the hill.
The wind and breeze, the splash of a sprinkler,
All reminding me this moment was real.

I wound through the 'burbs, the businesses and brigades.
Through a 'kasi, kerkhof and kaal dirt-road terrain. **

I eventually arrived back,
Through the fences, gates and doors.
The guy who left that morning,
Was no more.

I Ran.

Dane Grant
© 2011 (All rights reserved)
**
- 'Kasi (Slang for eKasi or Township. I ran through Alexander township)
- Kerkhof (Afrikaans for Cemetery)
- Kaal (Afrikaans for naked/empty)