{"id":939,"date":"2015-09-07T09:11:16","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T16:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomswritings.lewczyk.net\/?p=939"},"modified":"2025-07-10T11:09:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T18:09:04","slug":"race-new-24-line-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/?p=939","title":{"rendered":"The Race [New] (28 line poem)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><em>I wrote the first verse decades&nbsp;ago, and decided recently to finish the poem &#8212; so I&#8217;m calling it &#8216;new&#8217; since 85% of it is.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Entered in a two-horse race<br \/>\nEach on his trusted steed<br \/>\n(Both heroes of humanity)<br \/>\nWere Selflessness and Greed<\/p>\n<p>The course&nbsp;wound through the forest<br \/>\nOver bridges, to the town<br \/>\nSome stretches&nbsp;narrow, others wide<br \/>\nNear equal up and down<\/p>\n<p>The racers, neck and neck<br \/>\nAnd nose to nose until the end<br \/>\nThe finish line in sight ahead<br \/>\nAround the final bend<\/p>\n<p>Two close-set oaks, the finish, marked<br \/>\nBeyond, the cheering crowd<br \/>\nThe riders spurred their mounts ahead<br \/>\nThe people calling loud<\/p>\n<p>The gap was narrow; one abreast<br \/>\nCould fit between the trees<br \/>\nDisaster seemed the only path<br \/>\nNo way for two to squeeze<\/p>\n<p>Selflessness held back to let<br \/>\nGreed through to cross the line<br \/>\nGreed thundered on without a pause<br \/>\nHe thought, &#8216;The race is mine!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Greed finished first, but did he win?<br \/>\nEach one raced as he lives<br \/>\nWho wins in life? Who profits?<br \/>\nHe who takes, or he who gives?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I wrote the first verse decades&nbsp;ago, and decided recently to finish the poem &#8212; so I&#8217;m calling it &#8216;new&#8217; since 85% of it is. Entered in a two-horse race Each on his trusted steed (Both heroes of humanity) Were Selflessness and Greed The course&nbsp;wound through the forest Over bridges, to the town Some stretches&nbsp;narrow, others &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/?p=939\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The Race [New] (28 line poem)&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,21,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=939"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3263,"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939\/revisions\/3263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lewczyk.net\/tomswritings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}