Imagine
rejoicing at
others’ joys, content
to let their delights and yours
be but waves, here
for a time until
finally all
slip into
sea.
Imagine competition for what it is:
a ruse, a prod – not from God – but a
house of
cards, a
sleight of
hand that
cannot stand
the swell of
eternity.
stillvoicing 
So much wisdom here! And I love what you did with the line breaks. The title is irresistible, too. As always, really well done all around.
Thanks for the encouragement and the retweet too! A blessed Sunday and week to you.
Your words about competition leave me a little uneasy. Maybe I’ve just heard too much lately from our local educators about how “everyone should get a trophy,” and how striving for excellence isn’t good, because it could hurt the feelings of those who choose not to strive. We have some serious problems with education in this country, and in that sense, your words are good: they force thought about uncomfortable things.
On the other hand, I’m completely taken with the first half of the poem. Too many of us — and I include myself — sometimes assume that someone else’s surplus of joy means a diminution of our own. Not so! And we certainly don’t have to tear someone else down to build ourselves up.
All in all, a thought provoking poem, built around a compelling metaphor. I like it!
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I am a bit nervous about it too, but from a different angle. I enjoy curling (you perhaps know it from days further north?). At any rate, I curl in two leagues, one competitive, the other not. But the non-competitive league often drifts into competition, and as a corrective the draw-master (great title, no?), will have days where he has the weakest players serve as skips. I have to say the game then becomes an utter yawn. Now, on the other side, the competitive night players sometimes take themselves VERY seriously and it reaches the point where it is almost comical. Behind the poem, perhaps, is my vexation with these experiences, which really ape society at large. Sounds like a book in the making, or maybe an article…
I love these words, Allen. I don’t have a competitive bone in my body but have played several different sports in my life and have often been aghast at the lengths some people will go to ‘win’. I believe the only ‘winners’ are those who enjoy the game for what it is.
I’m glad it resonated with you. When people say “winning is everything” they really mean it, and people with that attitude usually don’t reserve it for the court, field etc. But we can still dream of and work for another world!