Here’s another talkative colored pencil drawing I made while I was couch-bound after foot surgery.

 

How to Become a Runner

If you’re over 60—
with knees that creak
and titanium screws and plates
cleaving to old bone
in your well-used feet—

go humbly before colored pencils.
Ask them to meet your sketchpad,
for a casual date.

Not drinks—it’s 2 pm
on a Wednesday
when decent colors
don’t imbibe—
a cup of tea will do.

Be open minded
you could tell them—
see if you can slip
the word jog
into your introduction.

You’ll know they are compatible—
even eager to hook-up—
when your shy white paper
doesn’t recoil

as those wood casings
holding all manner
of bleeful potential
roll up close.

Don’t make a big deal of it—
you might scare them off.

Sing something soothing.
Let your fingers be gentle,
guided to the hues
that could make something lithe
bloom on the page,

a different version of yourself—
young and strong, maybe even blond,
vitalized
by that odd desire
that woke you today
with visions of grace and speed.

 

–Melinda Coppola