Runner

What I run from, what I run to.

Distorted…
Ugh, is this new?
Think again.
Huh.
Why it’s always you.

Run…

The problem,
knocking at my ribs again,
I’m the runner, always been this way, my friend.

Don’t be my mirror,
don’t be my ghost,
I ruin the things I love the most.

Step away,
I’m a storm
you don’t wanna be in.

They see the lightning,
hear the sound,
but they don’t know
what drags me down.

I’m the runner
always on the run,
problem chasing, never done.

Don’t you follow
I’ll come undone.

Stay back
I’m the scent of ozone,
the grinding gear that cannot hone.

Left, right, left
don’t look back,
the high-voltage hum before the crack.

(I’m the runner…)

The silence,
louder than the sirens now,
I’m the runner
don’t ask me how.

Don’t get close,
don’t try to heal,
I’m the jagged edge you’re forced to feel.

Guard your heart,
don’t play this game
the fire dressed in a softer frame.

They hear the thunder,
call it power,
but I’m just counting down every hour.

I’m the runner,
miles from the sun,
chasing damage before it’s begun.

Watch me ignite
a beautiful fire
in a losing fight,
climbing higher.

Stay back
I’m the dangerous one,
the runner, never done.

Thunder…
I’m the memory of the crash,
Lightning… the ghost inside the flash.

Not the hero,
not the lure,
the friction burn that won’t stay pure.

Don’t come closer,
the pull runs deep,
the storm that doesn’t sleep.

The problem…
it’s always me.
I’m the runner…
set me free.

This isn’t a race
just a wildfire trying to outrun the place
it already burned to the ground.

Always
on the run,
chasing the spark until it’s done.

Watch the horizon,
catch the flame,
I’m the runner without a name.

Still running.
coming undone.
Don’t get caught in my thunder.

Author’s Note

Runner, It’s a season of moving without arriving when the only way I knew to protect anyone was to keep them at a distance. It’s about the exhaustion of being the one who always leaves before being left, the ache of wanting to stay but believing you shouldn’t.

The runner isn’t just a person. It’s a state of being, the pulse that says go when everything else says stay.

I don’t know if the running ever stops. But sometimes, naming it is the first step toward standing still. This is for anyone who has ever run from themselves, and toward themselves, in the same breath.