To run in darkness is to touch the night

To run in darkness is to touch the night.

Quiet bodies moving lithely,
Cushioned and smoothed: Reebok on asphalt,
In an unlit LA driveway,
As a down-to-the-street-and-back
Piece of this evening's workout.

And here, in this safe little patch of shadow, 

I think of what it must have been like 

To run in the dark a long time ago. 

With lives, perhaps, dependent on

Your hard, striding effort and breath hammering.

Feet slipping, enemies closing.

To run in darkness is to touch the night.