In, out, in, out,
Keep my breathing in check.
Left, right, left, right,
Shoes pound against pavement.

Turn the corner,
There's the finish line,
Just fifty feet away.
I'm in third place.

Running, running,
I've trained for years,
To get this moment,
To run with my dream.

Closer, closer,
Almost there,
I pass a runner,
Come in second,

At least, I almost did.

Fifteen feet,
Nine feet,
Four feet,
Then,

An explosion.

Cheers turn to shouts,
I feel weightless,
If only for a second.

I wake in a hospital bed,
My arm and legs in bulky casts.

I see a nurse to my right.
I ask what happened.
She tells me about the bombs,
How I was extremely lucky.

I couldn't feel my left leg.

There were two bombs,
One on either side of the finish line,
No one is sure who did it,
All they know,
Is what they were.

A pressure cooker,

Had cost me the race,
Cost me a dream,

Cost me my ability to run.