We are in the race of our lives
Whether or not we know it, running slow or fast
While time, our enduring opponent
Is patient, plodding, turning the future into the past
And we, like the hare of our folktales
Dart hither and thither, diverted and delighted
Rushing from moment to fleeting moment
Beyond the narrow track, the finish line unsighted
We are in the race of our lives
Though we may linger, and languish, and squander
As if we have all the breath in the world
And it matters not how we live and where we wander
For we, unlike the tortoise of our sun’s daily march
Mistake speed for progress, and miles for meaning
Chasing each mirage, be it gain or glory or love
Straying from the course, distracted by our dreaming
We are in the race of our lives
Yet in the final strait, who cares how or where we ran
It matters only that we took part at all, and in the end
That we know ourselves better than when we began
Wayne Visser © 2022
Book
Life in Transit: Favourite Travel & Tribute Poems
This creative collection, now in its 2nd edition, brings together travel and tribute poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology pays tribute to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Barack Obama, Antoni Gaudí & Leonardo da Vinci, and reflects on travels ranging from China and South Africa to Ecuador and Russia. Life is lived in the in-between / In transit / Between coming and going / Between staying and moving on / Between here and there / And what we call home / What we call settled or contented / Is merely a resting place / A station for refuelling / A nexus for reconnecting / A junction for changing direction. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.
