The Hill ©2006                                        Marsh Brodeur

I don’t open my eyes I just visualize that first hill
Beckoning me a little closer to the sun
Sweet red cedar and alpine air, my lungs fill
And yet people still ask me why I run

I once asked a man who ran who he thought God was
And he told me that one time God spoke to him
He said about mile sixty five, my soul came alive
And carried me all the way around the Tahoe Rim.
And I had a glimpse of Heaven.

I asked that man who ran if he believed in the Devil
And he said one time he had seen the Devils face
At about mile 64 I couldn’t take no more
And I yelled “What the hell did I do getting in this race?

So I raised my head up to the heavens
And I prayed for strength, for anything I could do
And by mile 65 my soul came alive
But by God I knew what I’d been through
I had a taste of Hell