He just keeps on running
I wrote this for my son when he was six, the rest of the family were trying to eek out the last of the Saturday morning sleep in and he had got up to get ready for his first football game. He is a good little long distance runner now, so still running but without quite so much mess. I leave it here now, to remind him to be patient if he ever has a little runner of his own.
STOP RUNNING EVERYWHERE!
He opened his eyes and jumped out of bed, off down the hall he eagerly sped
Into the bathroom to visit the loo, did the thing there that all of us do
Out through the door with a speeding of pace, oops, back again quickly to wash hands and face
He must wash his hands as he’d been to the loo, it does waste some time, but you really should do.
Back through the door to the kitchen he raced, grabbing a bowl, not a second to waste
He needed a spoon and some milk from the fridge, allowed honey on Weet-bix but only a smidge
The doors were all banging as he opened and shut, from out of the bedroom he heard a loud tut
SLOW DOWN DAVID
He piled it all high and crept to the table, put it all down too fast and unstable
The Weet-bix all crumbled and slid from its box, then the milk overflowed soaking into his socks
The honey was runny, such a sticky affair, and yes you have guessed, ended up in his hair
All did not matter, he had to be quick, a beard made of cereal, it could seriously stick
Spooning it in with no mind to the mess, a little too fast he had to confess
His breakfast was sloppy and splashed all about, he got a lot in but lost a lot out
It had stuck to his chin his neck and his vest so he tried to clean up, doing his best
But the spoon got away and clanged to the floor, as he tried to retrieve it he heard it once more
SLOW DOWN DAVID
On the floor, in the milk and all that had dropped, he searched for that spoon but suddenly stopped
Mum’s slipper’s appeared where that spoon had just been, one of them tapping as she took in the scene.
‘The table, your socks, just look at your face, you must have been moving at quite a fast pace.
I will say it again, I have said it before, please be more careful, just look at my floor!
Go and clean up now, wash under your chin” running away you could see where he’d been
His feet felt all squishy he hadn’t noticed before, and he made milky footprints on the clean floor.
Again for that morning he filled up the sink, wrestled the soap which was smelly and pink
He could not hold onto such a slippery thing, it shot through the air hit the light with a ping.
SLOW DOWN DAVID
Mum came to the bathroom, in all the commotion the soap had rebounded and knocked over some lotion.
She looked at the mess, slowing shaking her head, go and get changed now and please make your bed
He pulled off his socks, kicking them high, the milk made them heavy, they really did fly
Skidding into his bedroom, he let out a shout, he’d trodden on Lego that he had left out
That loud shout was loud, and it woke up his dad and also his sister which would be bad
Indeed, he could hear her shouting his name and sure enough, soon she came in to complain
He tried to tell her it wasn’t his fault, he tried to do things the way he’d been taught
Dad joined in too as he’d got out of bed, they lectured him now and together they said
SLOW DOWN DAVID
He sat on his bed and looked at the floor, as all the instructions came in through his door
He was wondering now about the brick that he’d struck, and remembered last night he’d been building a truck
Dad was still talking, “did you hear what I said?” thinking of finishing he nodded his head
He looked round the room and it was still there, pushed under his bed next to his bear
He’d build it some more, build it much bigger, add on a bucket make it a digger
He began building and by now you should know, did so with speed, he could never be slow
The time kept on passing and he kept on going, building it bigger no chance of him slowing
He tried to stand up but slipped over instead, the bricks all went crashing down under his bed.
SLOW DOWN DAVID
Dad came back in angrily shaking his head, saw all the mess and sat down on the bed
The truck was in pieces, a mountain of bricks, soft words now “it will be easy to fix”
Dad left the room with a smile on his face, as a young boy he used to race
His mind moved on quickly, thoughts of soccer instead, he remembered the strip laid out on his bed
Remembered then why he was too quick to catch, today was the day of his first soccer match
He put on his socks but forgot about pads, shin pads go first just like his dad’s
He got in a pickle with socks, pads and laces, losing all time made up by his races
The faster he went the more tangled he got, the others were ready he was just sweaty and hot
HURRY UP DAVID
Son, I love you. Always run towards life, never away.
Crowded Mind 