Though this year’s festival may be over, there are still those who have its works and impacts on their minds. Our Thinkers in Residence each went out during the festival days and engaged with the artists, the works, the public, and the street. They had their own reactions and interpretations of what they saw and experienced. As we look forward to 2017, let us take the time to look back on what these Thinkers thought and read their perspectives on this year’s festival.
Thinker in Residence: Sara Rempe
Bio: Sara Rempe received her MFA from Hunter College and currently teaches creative writing in the college’s English Department. Her feature film, The Last Day of August, can be found on iTunes.
Marathon
I taught myself to run,
& was stunned: the body undrunk:
the heart’s arduous pump,
the arms’ initial awkwardness—how
to be held? Legs going numb, hips
pinched, lungs stung , bones
grinding in their sockets, knees crackling,
feet suddenly dumb.
I told myself to run
at dusk down the yellow
line, through the middle
of streets so nothing
could touch me.
I took the oath to beat my body
into submission, not to stop
until I crossed the line: each day
ran the same course: started north
and made a great circle back, trapped
in my agony—frenzied—trying
to get free without
doing harm. I made myself run.
I learned to let the pain in
for miles before the high and for a time
it was worth the ache—like loyalty
before a split—demanding I love it
while begging to quit.
