Hurdles
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| (Found here) |
early for the competition. There was still
snow on the Kishinev stadium. Three or four workers
were sweeping it from the tracks.
I took off my coat and dress in a dim locker room
and put on my blue shorts and a white
race jersey with a well-worn number three
printed in red over my chest. Then the other girls
began to arrive, smelling of snow.
Natasha had a strong body and long legs.
When she removed her hair clasp, her blond hair
fell like a mane over her bare shoulder-blades.
Ira, a tartar girl, was dark and had jet-black eyes.
I knew she was the best in spite of her
short stature.
Even Olga, an absent-minded freckled dawdler,
had better chances than I at sixteen.
I left my eyeglasses in the locker and came out
to stretch and warm up before the final race.
Our skin crawling in the cold, white vapor at
our nostrils,
ponytails... We looked at each other one last time
at the start, before turning into four racehorses.
The pistol awakened us, startling every nerve.
Each step was taut but light-footed.
Our elastic ligaments
and warm muscles hurled us through cold winter air.
Clearing hurdle after hurdle, we knew no gravity.
When it was over I looked around and saw the others.
They were behind me. Strangely enough,
it didn’t matter to me any longer.
We were tired, and our shoulder-bags felt heavy
as we walked to the bus stop, trotting on ice,
making small talk under our umbrellas.
That Moldovan February was drizzly,
but it was getting warmer toward noon.
The next summer I moved to another city
to study literature.
Are they still running through snow behind me?
~Katia Kopovich
“...In this grand race we’re running, serious athletes know how to stay focused. They have learned through trial and error to block out all distractions. They don’t look back like Lot’s wife did, but keep a long, steady eye on the goal in front of them. That’s a pretty hefty challenge in this age of distractions and diversions. While Katia Kopovich effortlessly ‘cleared hurdle after hurdle’ in today’s poem, we know that most of us will not clear every hurdle. Some of us will surely stumble and fall. When that happens, Christ calls us to get up and with joy keep on running. James 1:2 says, ‘Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials.’
With our gaze firmly planted on Christ and the additional gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, the Church with its sacraments and that ‘great cloud of witnesses,’ we are well equipped to run the race. The Christian Church is made up of the Church Militant (those alive in this world at the present moment) and the Church Triumphant (those saints who have died in the Lord and are with Christ). Both groups can and should impact our lives in meaningful ways as we journey toward our goal. These witnesses help us understand how imperfect mortals have kept the faith and crossed the finish line. I think of a dear artist friend who has been battling cancer and other health issues for several years. One medical challenge after another has become the mainstay of her narrative. Yet, I don’t recall knowing anyone who has been more consistently joyful. Her indomitable spirit and zeal for living have been an inspiration to everyone she comes in contact with. It seems her overflowing joy for Christ keeps her going strong. In Philippians 3:13-14 St. Paul declares, ‘But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’ And in Matthew 24:13 we read, ‘But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.’”
~Barry Krammes
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