I Continue

'The crowded future stings my eyes
I still find time to exercise
In uniform with two white stripes'

Moon Over Marin - Dead Kennedys

Well strictly speaking, that description does not neatly dovetail with my own lived experience, at least not for many years now. For starters my shorts were corduroy cut-offs, not silky sweatshop polyester. The T-shirt was black, non-descript and bore no logos. My feet: unshod with rubber or spike. The cool sand was strangely yielding yet gave little back in return for the effort of each stride, but the benefits, like the workload required are double and twofold. As I moved along the beach I focussed on the miniature landscapes that I trampled with each step. I imagined myself as ant-sized as the sweat began to flow, a minute creature faced with mountainous dunes and endless unforgiving slopes. Passing the pavilion I was struck by the opening bars of a Metallica tune achingly played by a lone busker silhouetted by the steps with an amplified Spanish guitar. "Never opened myself this way", I hummed in unison with the played melody, "Life is ours, we live it our way", I continued, as I moved steadily away, knees working well now, step by step, in semi-darkness.

© felix ratcliff 2010