That Telling Smile

I stood at the finish line of a long distance race. My job was to applaud and express gratitude for raising money for a charity. As the runners proudly completed their brief journey, I watched their accomplishment and joy at competing against one another. But one lonely runner, trailing all the others, crossed the line with a satisfaction that forever stayed with me.

“That Telling Smile”

TRK, 1985

Standing at the finish line,
I saw fatigue and pain,
On bodies pushed to limits,
On faces stressed and strained.

Some with a flourish cross the line,
They've saved some strength for now;
So that they showed the crowd,
With such a showy bow.

Some have counted runners passed,
And now are in their prime;
A few more victims are in sight,
To pass in shortest time.

Men who try to prove themselves,
To do their macho best;
Dart in front of handicapped,
Elders, and the rest.

But one toward the end,
Will teach me much that day;
She strains and works and runs,
In an awkward jerky way.

As she narrows down the stretch,
I see she's an older age;
Younger runners' till now tired,
Pass by her in a rage.

She doesn't care about them,
She maintains her awkward gait;
And closes at the finish line,
She knew that we would wait.

Most runners seek familiar folks,
As completion now assured;
But this one has no one,
And she smiles, as I saw her.

Her telling smile told much that day,
More than schools and books;
She smiled a smile that stayed with me,
Her story in her looks.

She's run her race 'against no one,
She cared not who she beat;
Her race was run against herself,
Now she was complete.

Although she finished in the back,
She did all she could do;
Not one surpassed her effort,
She told me that she knew.

That race stuck in my mind,
As more than just a race;
It stood for ways we live,
The rainbows that we chase.

I hope that at my finish line,
I pass with more than style;
I will have done all I could do,
I'll have that telling smile.