me and all of my selves
we run like we’ve been here before
like we know what’s waiting here
and it's nothing
nothing for us
anyway
so we run
away from the idea that we “need” to exchange energy for paper
to only then turn around and exchange paper for energy
we run because our energy gets spent better running
we run from the people screaming
to convince us to fit into their machine to keep it moving
we are always moving
fueled by our own willpower instinct intuition
we run
trying to keep up
with all of ourselves
all of ourselves knowing peace is not a destination
and this journey, it never ends
so me and all of my selves run
like we know what’s out there
in the infinite of it all
we run like we breathe
like it's so natural for us to move
and never stop to take someone else's fears into consideration
we run like we know what feels good to us
(‘cause we know what feels good to us)
we run like water
on a mission
to go absolutely nowhere
and everywhere
we run like water in love with
moving
and freedom
and all our fluid selves
we run
past imaginary borders
we run through lines on maps
we run because all of this belongs to all of us
and if time existed we’d for sure spend it running
so we run
and we run
and we run
Added: Monday, January 14, 2019 / Used with permission.
Photo by Eric Kayanan.
Lauren (Lo) May is a writer, artist, host, human rights advocate, and french fry enthusiast who was born in DC, and raised in Maryland. An alumna of the award-winning DC Youth Slam Team, Lauren is part of Split This Rock’s Ushindi Performance Group and a Teaching Artist for Split This Rock Youth Programs. She traveled to South Africa as a part of a Sister Cities International Arts Program to perform and teach poetry. Her poetry speaks to personal struggles and triumph, mental health, social problems, and the celebration of life (and french fries). She has featured as a guest speaker at Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s 10th Annual Women of Color Network Conference, the National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence, and The White House United State of Women Summit. She has also featured as a performance artist at George Washington University, the University of Miami, Notre Dame of Maryland University, and many more.
