No Stranger

I tried to run from danger,

No stranger, I. Danger, past

Or present. Tomorrow?

I run, I run treadmill loops

Head to Heart to Gut,

Struggle to stay upright, run

Away, away only to circle

Back, hide behind my door.

Danger knocks. Hide under

Comforters no comfort

From monsters in my bed.

Run, run, scared, scarred,

Collapse on my last breath.

Wobble to my knees

Pursued by ghosts of self

Until I land, bruised,

On a mirror reflecting.

In that water I held fear,

Could run no longer

But only stand and let the current

Carry me where it would.

Reflections of Sorrow,

Her face in the back window,

Tears streaming, hands splayed

In supplications, begging me

To fight a power

I could not overcome.

The room was cleared,

Drawers emptied, closets bare,

Clothing, toys, children

In garbage bags,

Stolen.

Forty years later and today

The slash through my heart

Bleeds ice shards. The danger

Is the image I see in the mirror.