The Missing

Before dawn, I awoke

They were noticeably missing

As I drank coffee and wrote

They were noticeably missing

As I got ready to run

They were noticeably missing

From run start until done

They were noticeably missing

Like vultures, awaiting lazily above

They do not kill, only harvest the remains

Gravity, their only effort,

Propelling their descent from above

Too lazy to put in the effort to descend

I never found them in the wee morning hours

Nor during the endless hours of pavement beating runs

I found them in abundance, hiding in their own lives

Masked from public view, hiding behind finger-clicking key strokes

I never met a hater out in the wild

Where life is hard, and effort required

No, I never met any of them out there

Only where they could criticize effort that remains foreign to them

Only where they can maintain comfort in the unremarkable

Hovering above, vultures, too lazy to put in the effort