Rise in the Darkness

I rise in the darkness
So that I may know the beauty of dawn
And appreciate the joy of daylight

And when, in the night, I cannot sleep
I listen to the soothing wisdom of poets
And conjure the spells of magicians

I wander in cold solitude
So that I may feel the glow of home’s hearth
And celebrate the warmth of friends

And when, in the wilderness, I am lost
I sing the ancient songs of the land
And dance to the rhythm of nature

I move in the sunshine
So that I may be in sync with time’s passing
And forget the vast stillness of space

And when, in the day, I cannot wake
I rally to the cry of revolutionaries
And shake myself from the coma of routine

I tremble with fevered passion
So that I might long for calm quietude
And value the emptiness of mind

And when, in spring, I cannot rest
I gather the secrets of flowers
And dream the whispered sighs of autumn

I rise in the darkness
So that I may know the kiss of waking
And appreciate the gift of being alive.

Wayne Visser © 2023

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.

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Travel Far

As you travel far and venture wide
Expect the tide to ebb and flow, the ride
Of life won’t always go the way you want
And though you may not know the reasons why
Yet still you must try and fail and try again
For when you learn to rise and fall
To compromise your dreams and go on dreaming
You will find that life rewards you
In unexpected ways, on days when you are down
When the road is tough and you’ve had enough
You will win, because life’s just like that
It’s fickle, when it’s not a flood it’s a trickle
And you must navigate the twists and turns
The chills and burns, and the longer you do
The stronger you get, you let life teach you
As you learn to be lost and follow your star
As you venture wide and travel far.

Wayne Visser © 2023

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.

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Change the World – Part 2

Let’s change the world, let’s move it
Let’s chance it and free dance it
Let’s feel its sliding rhythms
The echoes of its rhymes
The calling of our times
With signs of stars aligning
With mimes of joy and madness
Of syncopated sadness
Because we bend, because we tend
To lose the beat, then find it
To live life forward, not rewind it
Let’s stamp our feet, link arms and say:
We’ll change the world today!

Let’s change the world, let’s invoke it
Let’s weave it and conceive it
Let’s sing our songs of freedom
The myths of heroes’ quests
The trial-by-fire tests
With rests to ease our struggle
With crests that draw us onward
Because we roam, because we’ve shown
With tears and wide-eyed wonder
These days are not for squander
Let’s choose our narrative to say:
We changed the world today!

Let’s change the world, let’s heed it
Let’s hear it and not fear it
Let’s place our finger on life’s pulse
Where mountain rivers flow
Where ancient forests grow
We know, for elders tell us
We grow by seeing what can be
Because within we find our jinn
And rub each deep desire
From sparks into bright flames of fire
Let’s wish for every chance to say:
I changed the world today!

Wayne Visser © 2022

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.

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Fifty-Two

The year began in buoyant mood
A welcome changing of the guard
But dark clouds soon began to brood
And when it came, the rain fell hard

With COVID’s armies in retreat
New battle lines were being drawn
With every victory comes defeat
The deepest calm’s before the storm

The fallen king clung to his throne
His rabble swarmed the hallowed hill
A desperate dog without his bone
Defiant of the people’s will

Then came the bitter toll of war
As lives and livelihoods were lost
The greed of wanting ever more
We count the countless human cost

The spring still spread its carpet bloom
Then summer struck with scorching heat
The autumn leaves fell much too soon
Then winter lay her frozen sheet

We must act now, it’s not too late
We must do more than just survive
To help the world regenerate
To help all life to grow and thrive

Despite it all, life carries on
I’m grateful that we made it through
Each day of love’s a victory won
I fall and rise at fifty-two

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.

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Not What You See

I am not what you see
Whether ugly or beautiful
Fabulous or forgettable
In your eyes

This visage is a mirage
A mishmash of random genes
A splish-splash of changing scenes
A laughable disguise

I am not what I seem
Whether strong or pathetic
Uninteresting or magnetic
In your unseeing

This mystery is a history
A storm-form of wild schemes
A whirl-swirl of bright dreams
A brilliant being

Wayne Visser © 2022

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.

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I Miss You

It’s not that I am lost or lonely
Or have no ways to fill my days
It’s just that I would like to kiss you
That is to say, I miss you

It’s not that I am tired or tearful
Or have no sky in which to fly
It’s just that I recall the bliss you
Bring my nights, I miss you

It’s not that I am dazed or dreamy
Or have no star to reach afar
It’s just that I’m in love and wish you
Here with me, I miss you.

Wayne Visser © 2022

Book

Icarus: Favourite Love Poems

This creative collection, now in its 2nd edition, brings together love poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology traces love’s agony (“Broken Dreams”) and ecstasy (“Galaxies Cart-Wheeling”), from first blush (“Almost Strangers”) to full bloom (“Say ‘I Do!’”), as we fly to love. You’ve given me the gift of golden wings / The endless sphere of blue imaginings / The chance to rise above the silver clouds / The will to cast off untold ghostly shrouds / Don’t fly too high / Don’t rise too fast / Don’t tease the sky / Don’t taunt the past / You’ve given me the hope of warmer days / The blessed kiss of the sun’s fiery rays. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Race of our Lives

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.

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On the Brink

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It’s true, our world is on the brink
A species gone each time we blink
Each one another broken link
As oceans rise and nations sink

So much is lost, so much to mourn
So high the cost, so deep the scorn
Yet something new is being born
The blackest night precedes the dawn

Our time is short, we’re in a race
We must act now, pick up the pace
The simple truth we all must face
Is nature needs to take back space

Let’s let new life reseed and grow
Let woods come back and rivers flow
Rewild the land and seas and know
That nature thrives when we let go

Wayne Visser © 2022

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.

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Enigma

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Enigma

Your life is a giant puzzle
A maze of mystery and secrets
But what are you searching for?
What is the code that needs cracking
At the heart of life’s enigma?

It’s about finding out what you like
And working hard to ensure
That it becomes what you’re good at
Because life’s too short and difficult
To be doing what you don’t like

It’s about finding out who you love
And taking care to ensure
That they remain your main priority
Because life’s too long and incredible
To be with anyone you don’t love

It’s about finding out who you are
And taking steps to ensure
That you love that person unconditionally
Because life’s too strange and precious
To be chasing someone else’s shadow

Your life is an epic expedition
A trail of valleys and summits
And what you are moving towards
What you are discovering along the way
Is an answer to life’s question

Wayne Visser © 2022

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.

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Call to Adventure

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Call to Adventure

This is a call to adventure:
To set off together for distant lands
To stand with each other through shifting sands
Trusting the current enough to let go
Having the wisdom to go with the flow

Adventures are invitations:
To see the world through different eyes
To try and fail, to see what flies
Knowing the map is never true
Reading the signs, chasing the blue

This is a call to adventure:
To puzzle together through every maze
To learn from each other for all your days
Growing by living, like birds on the wing
Changing through seasons from winter to spring

Adventures are journeys:
To fill the heart and stretch the mind
To lose the way, to seek and find
Reading the stars, the sun and moon
Happy in sync, whistling a tune

This is a call to adventure:
To stay strong together through storm and sun
To fight for each other and stand as one
Trusting the pathway and where it will lead
Having the patience to nurture love’s seed

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.

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