Running

I ran,

I ran from the sun,

I ran from the moon,

I ran to god.

I wept and wept,

until time had stopped,

until death stood in front of me,

until someone ran with me.

As I ran, I met a man along my run,

he said, "Why do you crave",

I replied, "Why do I die alone",

He replies, "I will give you alms".

"I am no poor man, I don't need your alms,

why would I need your alms", I angrily reply,

"Exactly", he said

"You need no one to fulfill you,

you need nothing to fulfill you,

except yourself"

Everyone needs to run. Sometimes we need to run from our problems, our insecurities, and at times even from things that give us joy. Some people enjoy running in groups and it makes running more desirable, whereas others enjoy running alone as it gives them time to think, gather themself, and be emotionally vulnerable while not even acknowledging it. Today's poem is about running from loneliness, and it attempts to show that emotional comfort with one's self can help fill a missing void.

Background - In this poem a rich man is running because he saw a vision of himself dying alone, due to his ego he isn't able to accept it. By always being surrounded by work, he's never had the time to be with himself, he doesn't recognize who he is or what his emotions are. So, when he runs, he cries, experiencing emotions for the first time since childhood. He runs to god to ask him about his situation. The end may seem a bit contradicting because although the rich man (the one who is running) doesn't want alms, the advice he receives is an alm, it's an alm in the form of knowledge.