Steps on concrete

Steps on concrete  
hurt as you run.  
Each grain,  
permanents of the whole,  
yet it still cracks and breaks  
Fades, like brick,  
of color. Sun-bleached;  
each step lighter than the last.  
The rise and fall of heavy plodding,  
of wide lunging, of striding.  
From humble setting  
to climax and yet  
the eventuality of falling  
in action  
and as its conclusion  
draws near. Fear-  
immeasurable ripples of motion  
Through the concrete.  
Dead leaves tumble over its surface  
Revealing only a vestige,  
leaving only scrapings of its surface.  
Yet its artifice of stone  
Implies depth,  
Everything within  
the realm of nature is natural  
But how can this be so  
for the artificial?  
Is it fake as shallow,  
but hard for true?  
Only when damaged  
or failure is presented  
it becomes a deceiver,  
unsettled in the shifting earth;  
which itself is cracking and breaking  
Changing, as it's not dead.  
Unlike its family in the outer system  
of cold rock and ice that  
had long ago forsaken life  

Each crack and line a path
Each fate decided upon
Step by step.