wayne visser | Wayne Visser

June 19, 2022June 19, 2022

Against the Odds

We met upon the battlefield
And you, a warrior for the cause
Defending all the rights of those
Who journeyed to our distant shores

We found our love in forests green
And there, your wounds began to heal
The wooden staff I carved by hand
Replaced the weary sword of steel

We set off on an unknown trail
That rose to meet a mountain range
The sun reflected in your eyes
Inspired us both to make a change

We each discovered hidden paths
New ways in which to learn and lead
And now a movement lives and breathes
Because we planted that first seed

We found our bliss beneath the trees
Our cottage made into a home
It is our refuge from the storm
No matter where we reach and roam

We met against the odds of fate
Now those you love are by your side
I’m lucky to be one of them
To hold your hand with joy and pride.

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.

April 24, 2022

Sculpted Life, Crafted Love

Each life is like a block of stone
With endless possibility
And as we live, we hew and hone
Our dreams of who we want to be
Each choice we make, each chance unknown
Unveils a face of mystery
Each flag we plant, each throw of bones
Brings clarity to what we see

Each love is like a quilt being sewn
With stories of eternity
And as we love, we’re not alone
Like roots entangled tree-to-tree
Each risk we take, each layer shown
Reveals another hidden key
Each season brings us nearer home
Upon the journey to be free

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 22, 2022January 22, 2022

Never Too Late

It’s never too dark to light with a spark
The blackness of night as colours flash bright
To flame in the gloom and leave a good mark
There’s always a gleam of hope left in sight
It’s never too dark, not ever too dark

It’s never too bold to break from the mould
Of habits and rules, of nations and schools
To rewrite the plot of tales we’ve been told
There’s always a magus dressed as a fool
It’s never too bold , not ever too bold

It’s never too soon to shoot for the moon
With visions and schemes, with rockets and dreams
To wish on a star, go bust and then boom
There’s always a chance to catch the sunbeams
It’s never too soon, not ever too soon

It’s never too high to reach for the sky
With ladders to climb, one step at a time
To strive without rest, to fail and retry
There’s always a rhythm, always a rhyme
It’s never too high, not ever to high

It’s never too late to regenerate
Our land and our seas, the fish and the trees
To rewild the earth and change the world’s fate
There’s always new life buzz-buzzing like bees
It’s never too late, not ever too late.

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 11, 2022January 11, 2022

Fifty-One

There are years that crawl and years that fly
Years that succeed where others can but try
Some years are bursting at the seams
While others scarcely have the means

I’ve known the years that stick, or change
The years at home and years that range
Sometimes the years are bold and bright
While other years stay black as night

With fifty-one years laid to rest
The last was walked in valleys low
A year that put me to the test
A shadow out of which to grow

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 11, 2022January 11, 2022

If

If you can believe in yourself
When others doubt you
If you can conceive of solutions
Where others see problems
If you can relieve life’s stresses
While others get stuck
Then you will achieve your ambitions
On your own terms

If you can define your purpose
To answer the “why”
If you can align your knowledge
To fill in the “what”
If you can refine your skill-set
To strengthen the “how”
Then you will design your career
To serve your needs

If you can survive each crisis
And learn from it
If you can revive each failure
And start again
If you are alive to each moment
And take your chances
Then you will thrive in each facet
Of work, love and life.

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

October 4, 2021October 4, 2021

Thriving

Our life is so much more than a duty or a chore
Of merely getting by without a why or what for
The law of tooth and claw, the struggle to exist
To rally and resist against life’s slow decay
The way of entropy, of living just to see
Another day, to stay, to endure and survive
No, life is meant to thrive

In nature all things grow, from seed to tree, we know
The cycle of living through giving, of reap and sow
The flow, things come and go, the cycles of grooming
From sprouting to blooming, of stretching for the light
The bright palette of hope, the diverse ways to cope
To cherish and flourish, bursting forth and alive
For nature means to thrive

Society lives too, a melting pot we brew
From cultures and crises, with spices for flavour
And kindness to savour, ideas for conceiving
And goals for achieving that stretch us and bind us
That find us, together in all kinds of weather
Wanting what’s fair, to care, longing to love and strive
For society to thrive

The markets live and breathe in complex webs we weave
The synapses of trade have made the things we need
Each deed a chance to lead, while tech is getting smart
Yet still, it needs a heart, a compass as a guide
To tide us through the storm and find a better norm
A breakthrough to renew, an innovation drive
Yes, markets too can thrive

All life is meant to rise, to reach up to the skies
To move beyond the edge, to fledge with hopeful cries
Life tries until it flies, it shakes and spreads its wings
And trills each note it sings, while given time and space
The race of life is run, full powered by the sun
On land, in seas, like bees’ sweet nectar from the hive
All life is made to thrive.

Wayne Visser © 2021

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

August 1, 2021August 1, 2021

Magic Feather

I’m giving you this feather
To remind you of the endless sky
That even when you feel earthbound
You still have glorious wings to fly

I know life’s not all sunshine
And you won’t escape the aching pain
But like water off a mallard’s back
You too can shrug off driving rain

There’s power in this feather
To remind you of your magic flights
That even when you crash your landings
You still can rise to brilliant heights

I know love’s not all roses
And not all tales have a happy end
But like water from the sacred springs
You too can purify and mend

So hold onto this feather
To remind you that your future’s bright
That even when your feet are muddy
Your spirit’s always light

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

July 31, 2021April 24, 2022

Keys to the Maze

Upon the path of life’s great maze
Surprises lurk around each bend
There may be dragons, spells or gold
And battles fought before the end

And on this journey to the heart
Of life’s great mysteries
You’ll have to unlock secret doors
That need some special keys

The first key is IDENTITY –
The quest to know your mind
It helps you bypass cul-de-sacs
And treasure what you find

The second key is CONFIDENCE –
The will to stretch and strive
It takes you where you want to go
And keeps your hopes alive

The third’s RESPONSIBILITY –
Your footprint on the earth
It means you take care where you tread
And know what life is worth

The fourth key is the shape of LOVE –
With enigmatic flame of red
It burns the heart; it warms the cold
And lights the way ahead

The fifth key is life’s MEANING –
The pattern in the maze
It finds a way to join the dots
With destiny’s bright blaze

I wish you happy twists and turns
On easy trails and steep
Whatever choices that you make
These keys are yours to keep

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

July 13, 2021October 7, 2021

Think On Business

THINK ON BUSINESS

You may think on business and despair
See it’s ugly face of greed laid bare
How it chokes the seas and fouls the air
And the workers’ lot is never fair

But there’s another story being told
Of a smarter way and leaders bold
Of fresh purpose starting to unfold
And business breaking from the mould

It’s a tale of seeing with new eyes
And of commerce learning to be wise
Where there’s innovation on the rise
And trust beyond what money buys

For when business cares it regenerates
And changes what it risks and rates
It begins to give more than it takes
And reinvents the world it makes

When nature thrives and people grow
Returns for business start to flow
As those who reinvest will know
The future reaps the seeds we sow

You may think on business and take heart
For a better way is ours to chart
We all have our roles, we play our part
But there’s no time to lose, so make a start

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.

July 3, 2021July 3, 2021

Only Now

There’s only now – this moment of this day
In time’s great ocean, as we swell and sway
Between waves of memories already past
And hopeful dreams like fishnets we cast

The day itself may change to foul or fair
Our only task is to be present there
To ride out the storm and soak up the sun
To manage the fear and relish the fun

There’s only now – this fleeting time and place
In life’s long journey, the truth we must face
Is that though the ground we cover is great
The path that we tread is what we create

The place itself may bring pleasure or pain
Sometimes we will lose, sometimes we will gain
The trick’s to be present through thick and thin
For life’s not a race, there’s nothing to win

There’s only now – this breath in, this breath out
A state of being is what it’s about
To be here right now, to be who we are
To beat like a drum, to shine like a star