Coming Back to the Poison

Someone asked me if I was going to do another malathion this weekend. I told them that I wasn't doing a malathion, but I was attempting to do a couple triathlons. Besides, I added, those things can be poison. Oh yes, I can remember at the end or near the end of marathons, feeling like I had indeed been poisoned or something. But, I kept coming back to the poison. And now, after thirty-something triathlons, I keep coming back to that flavor of poison. The triathlon and all that goes with it does indeed poison: it poisons my natural tendency to be sedentary; it poisons the negative effects of many worries and heartbreaks this world dishes out; it poisons listless life and dull, pedantic living, it poisons my doubt leaving only hope and faith. Tonight, as I prepare to go do a couple of these poisonous ventures, I offered a silent prayer of thanks to God, for my portion of that poison.