My dear friend

I sit in the beach chair
next to his,
And then I tell him
how I love to run,
but I don't want to run
in a herd

and I don't like watching people
worry about fast and faster and fastest
and about
winning and losing

He is nodding and finally he says,
"You stick to your guns honey"
and I say,
"but they say I will regret it"

and he says,
"Do you think you will regret it?"

And I say,
"No-but they think I am wrong,
that I can't know
what I will regret"

and he says,
"When I stopped running races
everyone told me I was wrong
and everyone told me I would regret it"

He looks at the photo of himself
with the trophy.

I ask him,
"And did you regret it?"

He shifts his gaze to me-
"Not for one tiny minute"
he says.