We Go Bump

Kangaroos have springs and pouches, camels have a hump,
But humans have to hit their head if they want to grow a bump.
Deer and elk can jump a fence, not difficult at all,
But humans, if unpracticed, try too hard and take a fall.
‘Tis true, many of us can run for miles in one go.
But running gets much harder when it’s through the ice and snow.
Add twenty to fifty pounds on your back to make it fun,
Then book it down a mountain in an all-out crazy run.
It’s hard enough for me to walk and still remain upright,
But three of us all in a line? - A quite ungainly sight!
First a trot and then a jog which built up to a run.
Momentum upward, we shot down the hill like from a gun.
Justin leading and I behind, Brandon held up the rear.
Going too fast! We’re gonna crash! Trouble! Panic! Fear!
Too steep to slow, too fast to stop, we fly on just as free.
A log, a drop, yet he can’t stop, he tries to jump the tree!
Inertia, imbalance, a foot snags wood, friend Justin is airborne.
He hits the dirt; both hat and pack from him are torn.
Feeling disaster coming, I leap over, all spread out.
A mud puddle! I can’t stop myself! I give a panicked shout.
I land and skid on my foot’s edge as I, too, lose my hat.
Spread- eagled into the mud I go, ‘Help me! Ahhhh!’ Splat!
Brandon trots right up; he had known he should slow down.
He looks down at the two of us, tilts his head and frowns.
‘Did you ever learn how to run a trail, you clowns?’
Fifteen minutes later, I knock on our kitchen door.
I know not to just walk in- I’ll mess up mom’s clean floor.
She walks over from her cooking, looks, and then her jaw drops.
‘What happened?’ she says. ‘You’re covered in mud and I just mopped!’
I look myself over, she’s right, I have a different kind of tan.
‘Mom, I’m sorry, but I went bump because I ran…’