Running

By Eileen Chong

Green how I want you green,
  green wind, green branches.
–– “Dreamwalker Ballad” Federico Garcia Lorca

Between the trees, the shadows; light
among the leaves. The branches sway;
the grass is scorched by the afternoon sun.

Two friends climb, and climb, to the top
of the stands. They take turns to be weight:
they sit up, lie back down, and sit up again—

Lap after lap: red ellipses of the field.
A kicked football arcing between poles.
The row of ropes: swinging, empty.

How long has it been?
Our legs have never stopped running.
Sweat prickles our foreheads.

Heat blankets our uncovered hair.
Our hands clutch at air. Our bodies
swift, green as the young wind.

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Eileen Chong is an Australian poet who was born in Singapore. She is the author of six books, her latest being Rainforest, from Pitt Street Poetry. She is widely published and has been shortlisted for multiple awards, including twice for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, the richest literary prize in Australia. She lives and works in Sydney.