High school was tough. But P.E. was torture. Here are some reasons why P.E. was the worst.

1. The song of the whistle is a wordless hymn from long ago. A calling we must answer though we know not why.

2. To go: around and around. To run. Where?

3. The track has no beginning and no end.

4. In the locker room we exchange our clothes for a uniform of fitness. A garment designed for sweating. The relentless leaking of the body in motion.

5. We are running out of breath. We are all running out of breath.

6. There is a rope that goes nowhere and we are made to climb it.

7. We stretch our limbs in a rehearsal of limitations. A ritual of corporeal failure. We are bending our bones.

8. Where will the lopsided ball bounce? None can say. Its path is unpredictable. Its fate unknown.

9. There is an aching in our sides. The chronic sickness of perpetual exertion.

10. We have forgotten stillness.