August 27th

“His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;” Psalm 147:10

we won’t see them
in any social media reels,
or making the top ten
lists of anyone, but
the ones who, without realizing
what fools they are, choose
to take the less-traveled road
every chance they get.
who, with callused hands from
cleaning up the litter of the privileged
and whose feet need soaking
every night from standing in the
shadows with the forgotten.
who, getting proforma responses
from the powerful every time,
keep writing about
the injustices in our times.
those are the folk you
are waiting for, in the gathering dusk
at the finish line, to hand them
the gold medal for living.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman