misery (put me out)

standing behind the gate, 

i feel the freshly fluffed dirt below my feet;

i smell the new sodded fields,

i hear the roar of loved ones far away.

normal capacity would stand others beside me

but this race is my own.

your whistle blows and i flee,

the gate swings open and i run as easily as i once stood.

i run towards you, towards parts of me i so desperately seek.

my feet move fast 

and the scenery becomes a blur as i move through it.

higher and higher off the feeling of flight, i know no pain.

yet suddenly, without warning, i begin to slow.

the vision of you so far ahead has changed;

you stand near me now.

fire.  

the skin of my feet are torn and my bones plead for rest.

overwhelming amounts of electricity 

shoot from limb to limb.

i lay in a panic and beg for your mercy.

and then, 

as if in a slowing motion,

a shot rings out that chills the crowd to hush.

powder and smoke linger like fog over my body.

the pain has ended.

all i can form,

"thank you."