I want to run with the real ones (AUDIO)

I want to run with the 
real ones

who are clumsy seekers in 
the wilds of this great mystery
we all found ourselves inside of

I want to run with
the real ones

who recognize the wet paint
swirling in the abstract art eyes
of every person they meet

I want to run with
the real ones

who don’t treat
friendships like
business transactions 

I want to run
with the real ones

who will join me on 
UFO hunt that we all know
is just an excuse to go stargaze

I want to run
with the real ones

who believe that kindness
is the antidote to these
poisonous times 

I want to run with
the real ones

who search for divine messages 
written in the clouds and listen to angels sing to them through babbling rivers

I want to run with
the real ones

who won't judge a story
by the color of the ink
that it was written in

I want to run with
the real ones

who aren't afraid
of kids or of adults
who act like kids 

I want to run with
the real ones

who don't follow
the crowd off of 
the cliff of celebrity politics

I want to run with
the real ones 

who will laugh in public
without worrying if
their teeth are straight

I want to run
with the real ones

who don’t equate 
strength with 
being constantly angry 

I want to run
with the real ones

who think roller skating
under disco lights sounds
like a great Friday night 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who don't own whips
in the shape of their
spiritual beliefs

I want to run with
the real ones

who remind me to make a 
chapel out of every
single breath I take 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who can feel the pain of people
that they don't have anything
in common with

I want to run with
the real ones

who never send a devil 
to help someone 
"find God"

I want to run with 
the real ones 

who treat the words
they speak like they
are winter sunbeams

I want to run with
the real ones 

who are willing to shake 
their butt in grocery store aisles
when their favorite jam comes on

I want to run with
the real ones

who aren't afraid 
to answer a question 
with "I have no idea"

who understand that sometimes
teachers need to be taught and 
healers often require healing 

I want to run with 
the real ones

who have taken risks
and failed and keep
trying again and again

I want to run
with the real ones

who are willing to take off
their armor and stand naked 
under the sun from time to time 

I want to run with
the real ones

who can be strong
enough to help me
let go of the guilt I'm carrying 

I want to run with
the real ones

who aren’t afraid of being seen 
spitting out a few watermelon 
seeds at a family picnic 

I want to run with 
the real ones

who don’t withhold mercy 
just to keep themselves 
ahead on the scoreboard 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who are always a
little bit restless
for their next adventure 

I want to run with
the real ones

who don’t use shame
to try and keep people
under their control 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who don’t criticize me 
for accidentally repeating
myself as I’m prone to do

I want to run with
the real ones 

who don’t criticize me 
for accidentally repeating
myself as I’m prone to do 

I want to run with 
the real ones 

who aren’t at all interested 
on winning a brutal
argument on social media 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who are willing
to sometimes have
breakfast for dinner 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who don’t become 
ghosts for me whenever 
I’m haunted by my emotions 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who will talk me out of 
ordering food a spice level
of anything higher than 2

I want to run with
the real ones 

who seek building 
more community than 
they do digging moats 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who can look up into the expanse 
of the universe and openly wonder 
about much we really know

I want to run with 
the real ones 

who will text me immediately
to tell me any new music 
they fall in love with it 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who will hold my hand
as we try to match the
rhythm of our pulses 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who will leave me a voicemail
using a silly voice every
now and then 

I want to run
with the real ones

who attend “church”
whenever they walk
among the trees 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who are kind to everyone
regardless if it effects 
their afterlife reservations or not 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who don’t play board games
like they are trying to qualify 
for the board game Olympics 

I want to run with 
the real ones

who loves a movie so much
that they can lip sync the dialogue 
of the entire film 

I want to run with
the real ones

who also hears the clock
ticking whenever they are 
spending time with a beloved 

I want to run with 
the real ones 

who won’t give up
on me for not seeing
the world the way they do 

I want to run with
the real ones

who don’t guard their
smile like
it’s a member of the royal family 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who defend the vulnerable
without having to film themselves 
doing it 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who are willing to order
an extra cheese course at the
end of the meal 

I want to run with 
the real ones 

who aren’t more afraid of sex
and passion than they are 
violence and bloodshed 

I want to run with
the real ones 

who have decided to 
not take it personally when
someone they care about changes 

I want to run with 
the real ones 

who might have been 
kicked out of Sunday school 
a couple of times 

I want to run with 
the real ones 

who know what it’s 
like to have had their
toes dangle over the edge 

I want to run
with the real ones

who will forgo their
strict bedtime for a couple
extra dances 

I want to run
with the real ones

who don’t require others to
conceal their scars to help them
feel more comfortable 

I want to run
with the real ones

who also believe that
empathy is proof of
the supernatural 

I want to run
with the real ones

who treat servers at
restaurants the same way
they treat their pastor 

I want to run
with the real ones

who is brave enough 
to be the first bird 
to sing in the morning 

I want to run
with the real ones

who won’t be embarrassed
by my love of wearing 
a fat milk mustache 

I want to run
with the real ones

who lives as if their 
fingers are piano keys 
and their tongue is a violin 

I want to run
with the real ones

who are desperately 
curious about what
happens next 

oh, how 
I want to run with
the real ones

  ~ john roedel