fieldwork

I ran ahead of you
to try to be
the person you were
running to
instead of the one
you were
fleeing

But I was on a treadmill
in my basement
standing still
watching you through a screen

The more you sweat
the deeper your hallucinations
haunted you

The sun became the moon,
the dark became the light
and you had a seizure
refusing to see a doctor
who might know more than you

So I watched, frozen,
trying to catch my breath
holding a torch
as the night fell
waiting to see
if your disintegration
would yield
the skeleton
of a man
or a beast