Race

                                

       RACE

In the run those who raced ahead

Stopped

To inquire the path lying before

For the path was not clear and their legs ached

Finding none they turned back

And found others who were

Lagging behind in their own pace.

Among the lagged I was the last

Pinching of shoe paled in contrast

                               to that of heart

Neither I want to discard nor get a new pair

Opted the next, which is another route

For I knew I can never win the race.

As Mark Twain remarked years ago

A lie can travel halfway around

While the truth is still putting on shoes

Goes well with the adage

NO one but the wearer knows

Where the shoe pinches.