Eighteen years ago today a man weighing approximately 180 pounds ran more than 6.75 miles in one hour, two minutes and fifty-two seconds. It was Day 1,251 of the longest daily running streak of his life (back and hip pain compelled him to end the streak at 1,490 days). “Wiped me out!” may be found in the commentary.

Today a man weighing approximately 225 pounds has run not a single mile in more than a year. In lieu of running, he blogs. Sometimes he misses a day and sometimes he publishes more than one post in a day.

Obviously, the two are not the same man, though they share a name and other common ground. Life changes a person.

Here is a poem about today, written four days ago:

november ends

the thirtieth steps back and the first thrusts forward
orange and yellow segue to candy red and gamma green
and november slumbers for eleven months

it needs its sleep
it always does a stevedore’s job
shaking trillions of trees of their garb
seeding the skies with six-sided crystal
gathering a nation’s families around a groaning table

as it fades
its first light sleep is restlessed
by insistent jingling