The Heroes of Everyday Life
/This poem is from the thoughtful and enjoyable collection of poems by William Ayot E-Mail From The Soul: New & Selected Leadership Poems:
“No great discoveries, no leaping eureka moments,
no vast overarching schemes or achievements,
but the daily rituals of getting on:
the school run, the gym, the drive to the office;
a kind word here, some friction there,
maybe some rivalry, a hint of an edge.
Queuing for lunch, and counting the calories
shop-talk that eats up the precious hour;
meetings and calls, the occasional trip —
the promise of adventure, the sniff of romance
though home as usual with presents and a sigh
to the midnighttenderness of kissing sleeping heads.
These are the heroes of everyday life,
neither visionary not driven, but reliable, steady,
with curbed desires and attainable goals:
the house, the holiday, the golf club, the car;
the yearnings, the hungers, and the ache for a purpose.
They’re our friends and aquaintances, husbands and wives.
They are parents, consumers, the pillars of the world.
They are the audience. They are the led.
What do we know of their silent sacrifices?
What can we know of their unspoken dreams?”
