For Sally

You might not be here but you are still so alive in the hearts and minds of everyone you touched in life—including mine all the way. You hit the finish line a hundred times over and to see that electric personlity shine through in your victories—you were like a “torch” for all to look up to and follow in a world of those with lost dreams and those that did not believe in their full potential. I remember when we had the same hamstring injuries together. Being in the training room you offered me words of hope with a little tough love mixed in—that was your style, Sally. You were a straight shooter—you said it like it was, no BS. There was never anyone before nor there will be anyone after you that represents the hard working fun lovin cheetah sportin red head that was so full of life and always made everyone around her feel special. You’re still here in our hearts and minds as your vibrant spirit will live on forever….

Embers: A Tribute to Sally

Embers

I ran with you once

I remember the cool stillness of autumn

The anticipation in the air, the tension

like carefully toned muscles

coiling and uncoiling,

dreading the struggle that awaits

yet hungry somehow

We all understood, you perhaps most of all

The question that emerges each time

How much will I sacrifice?

The gun cracks, and we’re off

We’ve aligned heart and mind

to this singular endeavor

There’s the zeal of the start, the thrill

that brings with it an immunity of sorts

Never pain at the start, no

Just the flood of adrenaline

winding through our veins,

tracing every sharpened fiber,

every molded contour

In the stampede I lose sight of you

And I bear down for the fight

I tear through mile one in 5:15, too fast

I’m straining, I feel it now

The pressure rising, encroaching

like tidal forces, urging me to turn back

My mind is at war, always at war

Parrying every thrust of weakness

Closing ranks against an army of doubt

I am alone, separated, and then I hear

the rhythm of breathing and footsteps

drawing ever closer

I hear someone yell, “Go Sally!”

I risk a glance behind, and there you are

In a moment we’re side by side

I whisper something

I think it was “Good God!”

And you replied back, though it escaped me

I don’t hear well when I’m running

Too consumed, I suppose,

with the furnace raging inside,

the immolation that sears away the world,

banishing the last vestige of weakness,

consigning to oblivion the excuses,

the self-pity

And it blazed within you, too

That furious inferno, I could feel it

Truth be told, I didn’t expect this

I thought I had dusted you

Yet there we were, stride for stride,

carving our path through concrete,

melting away the forces

conspiring against us

We roll through the second mile

Daringly, I increase the pace

And you matched it without hesitation

I cannot go faster, can’t drop you

That same fire feeds on weakness and strength

Pulling me down, down

into the unexplored frontier

We’re closing now, I can see the finish

And I’ve got one gear remaining

“Come on!” I whisper

I don’t know why I said it

Was it a challenge? A word of encouragement?

All I know is that you heard me and pulled away

I watched you as you crossed,

straining against your own tide,

breaking through the self-imposed prison

that entraps us all

Fire, so much fire, I remember

Fiercer than mine was that day

And it’s not gone out, no, not with your passing

But rather dispersed, like fireflies

Embers that we gather,

lighting ablaze

the souls you leave behind

- Daniel Lim