poetry | Wayne Visser

January 16, 2021January 16, 2021

Regeneration

The news is good (have you not heard?)
For every insect, beast and bird
The Great Extinction’s turning ’round
The seeds of change found fertile ground

The barren fields are set to bloom
The rivers sparkling crystal clear
New forests rise up from the gloom
The wild calls out for all to hear

The colour’s back in coral reefs
We heed the words of tribal chiefs
The farms are making healthy soil
The sun and wind’s replacing oil

The news is good (don’t you agree?)
Nature’s back, it’s not too late
Across the land, the air and sea
We let the Earth regenerate.

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

January 16, 2021January 16, 2021

All the Colours

The very moment that we met
I knew we would be best of friends
It started back in Tott’nham days
But that’s not how the story ends

As both our lives began to change
New partners and new purpose too
We seemed to move in swaying sync
With worlds unfolding bright and new

Now when I think of you, I smile
Recalling cider wisdom shared
And all the colours of your life
A sign of one who dreamed and dared

Today your sun’s on painted sky
With fresh adventures to begin
A flower shows your essence true
Of beauty blooming from within.

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.

January 16, 2021January 16, 2021

In the Mind

When this great race of life is run
When all is said and all is done
When we look back, we’ll surely find
So much of life was in the mind

The hardest trials, the stress and strain
The darkest nights, the clouds and rain
The loss that left us bruised and blind
These were the battles of the mind

The proudest wins, the joy and fun
The brightest days, the skies and sun
The love that made us good and kind
These were the triumphs of the mind

When this great wheel of life is turned
When seasons pass and tides have churned
When we reflect on what’s behind
We’ll know it’s true: life’s in the mind.

Wayne Visser © 2020

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.

January 16, 2021January 16, 2021

A Better Place

We may not sail the Seven Seas
Or board a rocket ship to Mars
Yet still we know to catch the breeze
And set our sights upon the stars

We may not run an enterprise
Or lead a nation and its realm
Yet still we have the wings to rise
And many ways to take the helm

We may not walk the halls of fame
Or take the prize in fortune’s race
Yet still we stand behind our name
And make the world a better place.

Wayne Visser © 2021

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.

January 16, 2021January 16, 2021

A Poem

A poem’s the sound we hear when words go out to play
As they romp and rhyme, laugh and cry, or go astray
Some play nice, while others scratch and swear in fights
Some get down and dirty, some climb to heady heights

A poem’s the show we see when words are on display
As they flit and flirt bright colours, or shades of grey
Some paint true, while others splash and scatter in shapes
Some tell epic stories, some clown around with japes

A poem’s the churn we feel when words are in the fray
As they lilt and love, muse and mourn, or quietly pray
Some are thieves, while others shine and selflessly give
Some spark the fire of hope, some teach us how to live

Wayne Visser © 2021

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

December 18, 2020December 18, 2020

Fifty

In all my years upon the Earth
This was the strangest since my birth
The year the ghostly virus struck
When time stood still and things got stuck

A year locked down under the dome
A chance to think, to be at home
A year of sickness and of death
When nature took a gasping breath

The crystal streams, the silent sky
The empty streets, the question why
The heartbeat of a world at rest
A seismic pause, a global test

Although we mourn for what is lost
We must reflect and count the cost
Of what will be our child’s regret
If we ignore the Great Reset

The end of coal, the peak of oil
The time to restore living soil
The promise of a solar dawn
An end to night, a brand-new dawn

A year of distance and of fear
A chance to love all we hold dear
A year of endings and of pain
When all good things must start again

Whatever challenges we face
This is our moment to embrace
A bigger view, a longer range
My fiftieth, the Year of Strange

Book

Life in Transit: Favourite Travel & Tribute Poems

October 31, 2020October 31, 2020

African Flame

You are the first spark that kindles the fire
That nurtures our daring and restless desire
On journeys across the wilderness plain
You light up the way: our African flame

You are the red bloom that graces the tree
That rises from ash, a wonder to see
In nature resplendent, we honour your name
You burn with great beauty: our African flame

You are the fierce blaze that forges the soul
That touches the sky and makes the earth whole
Through hardship and toil, in fortune and fame
You burn with great faith: our African flame

You are the hot coal that glows in the night
That gives us the strength to stand up and fight
Deep passion’s a fire nobody can tame
You burn with great hope: our African flame

You are the warm light that keeps off the cold
That cradles our dreams and stories of old
Together in strength, diverse and the same
You burn with great love: our African flame

You are the enigma that flickers with heat
That dances with drums in sync to the beat
With colours that shine, with stars in your aim
You brighten the world: our African flame

Book

I Am An African: Favourite Africa Poems

This creative collection, now in its 5th edition, brings together Africa poems by Wayne Visser, including the ever popular “I Am An African”, as well as old favourites like “Women of Africa”, “I Know A Place in Africa”, “Prayer for Africa” and “African Dream”. The anthology celebrates the luminous continent and its rainbow people. The updated 5th Edition includes new poems like “Africa Untamed” and “Land of the Sun”. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

October 21, 2020October 21, 2020

Behind the Veil

To those who stand outside
Or young ones still aspiring
The mysteries of business
Are tangled myths conspiring

But for those who enter in
The veil is quickly rent
For the secrets of success
Are simply common sense:

Make a lot of friends
And always keep in touch
Try to help with problems
But never pry too much

Get to know the rules
And always show respect
Play hard but even-handed
Give as you hope to get

Set a lot of meetings
And always be on time
Talk less and listen more
But don’t become a mime

Make a lot of money
And always watch your spend
But do not get confused
Between the means and end

Get to know your talent
And always have some fun
Throw in a little passion
And get the good job done

These are the simple truths
And answers many seek
To the enigma that is business
Behind the veiled mystique

So step inside the circle
And very soon you’ll find
The common sense of commerce
Is serving humankind

Book

The Poetry of Business: A CEO’s Quest for Meaning

It was time to leave. A bitter-sweet time. The CEO felt sadness, but also contentment. The business he had conceived and birthed and nurtured was mature enough to stand on its own feet now; to live out its own life. Ironically, the way he saw it, the company was not the legacy he was leaving at all. The real value was in the way in which the business lived and breathed and kept its people engaged and passionate. That was the real gift he had given them. And that was why he was leaving behind his scruffy notebooks in the boardroom cabinet – those dog-eared, tea-stained pages on which, over the years, he had jotted down his ideas. Scrawled untidily were the lessons he had learned along the way: about how to make a business ‘fit for human beings’; about how to survive in commerce and still sleep soundly at night; about how to create a company that served society, instead of the other way around. So many thoughts … Buy the paper book.

June 6, 2020June 6, 2020

Leap of Faith

You stood at the edge and took a deep breath
A leap of faith towards a future unknown
And with that leap, you died a small death
Like an old skin shed and a new one regrown

There’s no need for fear, a leap’s just a step
Infused with firm resolve and noble intention
It’s striding out with new vigour and pep
On a path full of hope and reinvention

Faith is believing before you can see
Following the trail with no summit in view
Knowing the acorn contains an oak tree
Finding your spirit and keeping it true

You stood at the edge and took that great leap
Now life will conspire to show you the way
And the lessons you learn, the dreams you will reap
Are rewards for the actions you take every day.

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

June 6, 2020June 6, 2020

Spirited Away

One fine day, I’ll let myself be
Spirited away, to a world yet unseen
In the grey, the mist of a dream
Where sprites play and nature nymphs stream
Amidst the spray of waterfalls and green
Forests, a ray of sunshine, a beam
Of light, a stray path in between.

One day soon, I’ll let myself go
To the moon, to the stars that glow
Like the bloom of ideas, the flow
Of a tune of memories that grow
And then swoon, like the winds blow
Across the dun and the swirling snow
Paints a plume on skies I used to know

One dark night, I’ll let myself fly
Out of sight, out of mind, with a sigh
I’ll take flight, let loose every tie
Every plight that weighs and asks why
Every fight won or lost, on a high
Of pure light, I’ll laugh and I’ll cry
With delight, I’ll be spirited away by and by