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I'd Run with You by Julie Stevens

Your legs pound the waking air
carry your desperate needs,
kick me as I sit still

on this long road to recovery

my legs refused to walk, but

time hasn’t fixed the brakes


I’m afraid. It sneers as it drags

you to the end. I know

because I’m already there,


wanting to taste those leaves,

feel the air comb through this loss,

run up a mountain, I can’t even climb.


It’s the worst wait

you coming home, reminds me

again, how these legs used to run.


I will love you from inside,

wrap lycra round my neck

and pull tight.


---


Julie Stevens writes poems sometimes reflecting the impact Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has on her life. Her poems have recently been published in Ink Sweat & Tears, Sarasvati and Dodging the Rain. Her winning Stickleback pamphlet Balancing Act was recently published by Hedgehog Poetry Press (June 2021) and her debut chapbook Quicksand by Dreich (Sept 2020). Website: www.jumpingjulespoetry.com. Twitter @julesjumping

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