winner

the winner's place in glory 

standing on the dais 

receiving your olive wreath 

you participate in the game 

repeating your mantra 

mentally pushing yourself on 

your opponents are skilled 

hitting their stride

long before you 

practiced excellence 

but you persevere 

blinders to the competitor 

in your own zone 

and in the end 

there can only be one winner

one true champion

but you are only the loser

if you throw your hands up, 

quit and walk away

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.