Getting started is the hardest.
Once begun, everyone runs
to be the first,
or at least to be
in the crowd
that crosses the finish line
in record time.
Those left out of the race
try to keep pace
along the sidelines
never raising the question
of where they are headed,
or what they might gain.
They simply imagine
there must be a prize.
What a surprise
to discover there is
none at all.
It was test to see
who would fall
into line.
Their pride is satisfied.
They feel superior
to those who are so inferior
they did not run at all.
annarino writes 