Two Runners, Four Runners

Two runners traveling around the city

On foot can have in depth conversations.

Even when the wind rushes by in noisy gusts 

The conversation is rarely disrupted.

Sometimes the runners must shout,

But their banter continues undeterred.

When the number of runners increases

From the number required to play war

To enough to play bridge

Filling the seats at a card table,

The conversation can be more varied

And the experience can be differently fulfilling.

The conversation can involve

The entire company of runners

With more opinions and knowledge informing

What is discussed.

But when the sidewalk is only wide enough

For two abreast

And the noisy wind blows strong from our left

Pushing us toward the water to the right,

The words of either pair are lost to the other two

As the soundwaves are blown wildly away

To float into the sky and join the ripples

Of the water in the harbor.

So, the conversation can continue

In any of six possible pairs.

The joy of the group of four compared to two

Is not double because there are twice as many runners

Or six times as there are that many more pairs.

In fact, it can’t be quantified

But the joy can be differently magical

With so many different ways to share

To light the way and

To lighten the hearts that pump the blood

Into four pairs of lungs

To provide oxygen to power the muscles

In four pairs of legs to move the runners

In unison around the city.

Four lives joined in harmony at sunrise,

Warming like the air as the sky grows lighter,

Carrying the energy of the sun

Like the flowers of the summer

The cold bodies remember from many other runs.