Body burns, and the world fades away.
Gone to the limit of sanity and jumped off
and the falling wind gives me enamored peace.
My limbs move of their own free will
but it matters not for I have become a god:
of nature, the wind and the water, and myself.
For a moment I had touched what it is to be alive
My mind had no worries of politics, of work, of school
of the good and bad, of friends and foes...
Not even a sense of competition because
there is nothing to compare.
There is only
A man to my front and a man to my back,
an oar to my side, like Excalibur
a gleaming sword to cut it all away.
Water giving way and Wind giving praise
for the strength we have mustered
Such confidence and righteous pride
richly deserving reverence yet only receiving
orders from some far off coxswain
our only anchor to this lonely existence.
Perfection only as far as you let it
each stroke another go for gold
Your will going strong but your body past its peak
and another mile to row.
And it's over.
It's over but in my mind I'm still racing.
I could go on forever and could do no better
But for now I'm surrounded by my mates
too tired to cheer at a job well done
Somewhere amid that exhaustion
is the real medal we were looking for
The ability to smile in between heaved breaths
to say goodbye and face the day
waiting for the next chance to greet the sun.