I was Hit

I was hit
Over and over again
Hit hard
Painfully hit
Down far
Into the ground
After I got up
I learned how to run
Fast
So that the blows
Could not be long
Or hard
So that when the hits came
I was moving
Rapidly
To decrease their impact
And I took them
One by one
Jabs into my side
Heart
Head
Legs
Jabs
I ran so fast
For 15 years


And then
I found a
Forest of kind
Words
And soft sounds
I slowed down
To a jog
Still suspicious
Still expecting a blow
That I couldn’t feel
For all my speed

Time passed
The words just continued
And the songs became sweeter
I stopped moving
stood still
I fell to the ground
Reeling in pain
Feeling the jabs all at once
Amongst the gentle sounds
Of birds and brooks
And soft leaves
I wailed in pain
In sadness
I screamed
from a cave
inside my lungs
stomach
and chest
And it echoed throughout the
Woods