poem | Wayne Visser

April 2, 2018April 2, 2018

Life’s Dream

Life’s a dream, it seems to me
In which we choose our destiny
We decide and we create
We walk the path and call it fate
And as we walk, we learn and grow
Until in time we finally know
That all is one and one is all
Here and now, forever more
If this is true, then let it be
That I wake to reality

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together philosophical poems by Wayne Visser. In this anthology, he muses on subjects ranging from space, angels and destiny to time, science and meaning in life. According to scientists / The world’s made of string / That buzzes and fuzzes / Or some such strange thing / It’s also a donut / That curls round a hole / With middles and riddles / Just like a fish bowl / And there’s no mistaking / It’s more than 3-D / With twenty or plenty / Dimensions unseen / Still others insist / It’s really a bubble / That’s popping and bopping / Through the lenses of Hubble. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

April 2, 2018

Cracked Pavements

The pavement blocks are neatly square
Yet sometimes cracks appear
That does not mean the ground we share
Will cave in to our fear

Our life is not a spreadsheet
Nor days like numbered cells
There is no sum when hearts meet
Nor code to break love spells

The branches of a tree diverge
The roots spread deep and wide
Yet water and sunlight converge
Like beaches and the tide

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

April 2, 2018

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me

According to scientists
The world’s made of string
That buzzes and fuzzes
Or some such strange thing

It’s also a donut
That curls round a hole
With middles and riddles
Just like a fish bowl

And there’s no mistaking
It’s more than 3-D
With twenty or plenty
Dimensions unseen

Still others insist
It’s really a bubble
That’s popping and bopping
Through the lenses of Hubble

Or is it just a big boom bang
That speeds to its goal
Of whirling and swirling
Into a black hole

My view is different:
The whole galaxy
Is milky and silky
And spins around me!

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

April 2, 2018

Memory Stones

The cold is biting, the darkness disorientating
in the hollow caves of loss, the waves
of anger, the shades of sadness, the madness
of life when it rips from the roots, when it
shoots poison arrows and leaves us bleeding
and battered, pleading and shattered, yet
alive, breathing and seething, while breath
was stolen from others, without warning,
without reason, they are dead.

The sun still rises, the earth turns, as if
nothing changed; it’s strange, as if
no one noticed the flames, the screaming,
the crashing down of a life, the smashing
to pieces of plans and dreams and what might
have been; the cold, grey ashes of a love
that burned bright and brief, too brief,
now grief is all that’s left, the theft is
complete, the mortal coil is shed.

The stones remain, memories from the burning
hearth, the bright blaze of living, the giving
of shape and form to who they were and what
they did, to what we did together, forever
cherished, pebbles in my mind, treasures
yet to find, a weight of shared times and
special places, remembered faces, traces of
adventures and folly, a patterned mosaic,
celebration of a life, enough said.

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.

April 2, 2018May 13, 2022

You never know what’s coming next,
around the corner, around the bend
in life’s twisted maze; there are no signs,
no rules, no lines unbroken, no guarantees,
for more is spoken than is known,
more unwoken than the mind’s eager eye –
the sigh of invisible breezes, blown fragments
of meaning, like leaf-piles scattered
as we chase our dreams, the things that
matter, the pitter-patter of love,
the flitter-fluttering dove of inner peace,
of calm in the maelstrom of motion,
our incessant becoming, our running
from the past and striving to be
different, better, elsewhere, anywhere
other than where we are, away
from the storm, the swarm of buzzing thoughts
and bustling tasks, yet no one asks:
what for and why now, why so urgent,
this need to strive, to plot and plan,
to map the stars and our orbit through
the spaces of living, the traces of dying,
the faces of who we are and who we will be –
until, at last, we are free, unvexed
by what, or who, is coming next

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

April 2, 2018

Forty Seven

A year of sailing restless seas
In search of waters calm
Until we found a friendly port
To shelter us from harm
We dropped an anchor of content
A respite from the swell
To nurture gritty dream into
A pearl inside the shell

Now as we wake, cathedral bells
Ring out a welcome song
Down cobbled streets, in lecture halls
We glow while nights grow long
Our next adventure’s just begun
Beneath a spangled heaven
Upon the cusp of earth and tide
In harbour forty seven

Book

Life in Transit: Favourite Travel & Tribute Poems

October 21, 2017May 27, 2022

Alive

I live
And therefore, I am victorious
Every breath is a triumph
Every step, an accomplishment
For living and breathing and walking
Are acts of defiance
Against dying and resigning and stopping

I am alive
And therefore, I am miraculous
Every emotion is an improbability
Every idea, an implausible feat
For living and feeling and thinking
Are audacious abilities
Against the odds of chance and chaos

I survive
And therefore, I am heroic
Every day is a battle won
Every year, a universe conquered
For surviving and striving and thriving
Are human superpowers
Against oblivion and entropy and meaninglessness

We live
And while we live, others die
Every life is an arc of light
Every death, a shooting star
For living and shining and fading
Are the black fate
Of each glorious being whose life we celebrate

We are alive
And therefore, we are guardians of life
Every heartbeat is a sacred gift
Every experience, a rare treasure
For living and laughing and loving
Are anti-spells
Against dying and darkness and desolation

We survive
And therefore, we are incredible
Every sunrise is another chance
Every moonrise, another bridge
For surviving and rising and connecting
Are acts of courage
That honour creation
And welcome living
And reaffirm life

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.