Cover Photo: Photograph by Bruno Nascimento/Unsplash
Photograph by Bruno Nascimento/Unsplash

Boy, You’re a Runner Now

It was the first time I’d ever pointed at myself and claimed “boy,” even jokingly.

This is Formation Jukebox, a column by Lio Min on being in transition and the music that helps them make sense of it all.

American Boyfriend

American BoyfriendCross my heart / Let me be / Tripped in the dark / You found me

American Boyfriend

And boy, I’ll be back when you’re lonely / If you want me to

When you wanna let go / When you wanna let go / When you wanna move onWhy you gotta let go? / Why you gotta let go? / Why you gotta move on?you

Now, on the days I don’t work the closing shift at my “paying the rent” job, I come home, say hi to my partner and my cats and my dog, change, and run. My regular run is a two-, sometimes three-mile box around my neighborhood. My nose always starts to run and I’ll often start tearing up, leaving my face glistening with a luscious combination of bodily fluids. When I cross the threshold of my apartment, I sometimes feel as though my lungs are ripping apart at the seams, and I never feel more honored and lucky to have my body, and I never feel more alive.

Lio Min has listened to, played and performed, and written about music for most of their life. Their novel Beating Heart Baby is about boys, bands, and Los Angeles.