Focus

My muscles are tensed, mind racing

My eyes dart to the people beside me

My mouth is set in a firm line

My feet are planted solidly on the block

My ears are ready for the horn

And the horn goes off.

Cheers erupt from the stands

Feet push off of the ground

Arms pump up and down

Sweat rolls down faces

Eyes fixated on their goal

Then I see her.

Her legs are moving faster

Her arms pumping harder

Her eyes more focused

Her position slowly gaining on me

Her gold medal getting closer

Then I trip.

I stumble over my own feet

I fall to the ground

I roll over with a groan

I get back up on my feet

I turn around towards the ending line

And the ribbon tears.

Cheers erupt once again

Hands clap over and over loudly

Arms thrown up with victory

Smiles illuminate faces

Voices fill the air with excitement

And none are for me.

But nothing about me seems different

Nothing screams “I just lost!”

Nothing says failure

Nothing looks out of place

Nothing shows that I missed my goal

Or so my mirror says.

I am still a loving daughter

I am still a caring sister

I am still a supportive friend

I am still a hard-working student

I am still an emotional teenager

That I know.

It’s not my competitors I’m against

I’m not trying to beat their record

It’s not their ability I’m trying to surpass

I’m not trying to bring them down

It’s not them I’m trying to be better than

It’s me.

It’s me I’m trying to improve upon

I’m trying to beat my own timing

It’s me I’m trying to surpass

I’m trying to be better with every race

It’s me I should be focused on

Now I realize.

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This is a poem that I wrote for the Commonwealth Essay Competition a week ago. I’m not a runner but this is something off the top of my head that fit the given theme 😛 (is the title appropriate?) I had really no idea what to title it so suggestions with better titles are welcome!  Also, I’ve been trying to split them into paragraphs but every time I update my post the space between each paragraph disappears so it looks like a large chunk of words.  I’ve resorted to bolding the first word of each paragraph.  Anyone knows how to fix this?