Imagine someone is cheering, when you’re on the final bend…

We are nearing the end of the 21 – book reviews that we began posting here on LinkedIn a while back.  

Slight fatigue was setting in,  just as it does when one is running the last lap,  almost getting to the finishing line, but not quite there. We were wondering if our selected books have resonated with our peers and professionals on this platform?  And then, as athletes often testify, a shot of adrenalin, found us.   

One of our LinkedIn readers, who we greatly admire, and who rocks the ‘numbers world’  responded  to our post about Emily Dickson’s poem.  She said that she was among the “astonished lot”  who loved the inspirational power of poetry.   It didn’t end there.  She also generously listed one of her favourite poets, Langston Hughes, and pointed us to one of his masterpieces – a poem aptly titled : The Final Curve.  

We have to carry this at number #20 because, as much as we stack scientific temper over superstition, we don’t mind dabbling in serendipity once in a while. After all, what is life without a surprising co-incidence ?  

Here is the entire poem: 

“When you turn the corner

And you run into yourself

Then you know that you have turned

All the corners that are left “

We have said before, that the power of poetry is such that you can make any poet “yours truly” .  

For us,  we are imagining what we would think if these lines came to us as a personal note (maybe even scented, wax sealed with LH’s stamp).  Perhaps it arrives,  just as we were thinking of giving up, of not trying anymore, of wondering if it’s worth it. 

We think, Langston, in just four majestic strides, seems to say:  " hard-wire your capacity to keep turning.   Set the bar for yourself and breach it,  every time.  All  the blocks are within you.  You will need to do this in the short races and the long marathons you run.  You have to run so many.  

You must , must,  must continue to turn the corner, re-asses and equip yourself for the final lap.  You were meant to finish what you began. You are strong, but you are agile, so turn just as much as you need to.  Believe me, the  finishing line is  just beyond that blinding bend you cannot see…. just yet. "

There could be so many interpretations, but we’re going with this one. 

Thank you to all our readers, who have commented and liked our work,  thank you for to this particular reader for staying astonished. 

You have replenished the stock of writing-adrenalin we so needed. 

In gratitude,

Vinati @The Script. 

p.s. Since we were weren’t familiar with Langston Hughes’s work. We did some quick secondary research and discovered that as a young black poet,  he had exploded on Harlem Renaissance scene . This was a time when black consciousness was on the rise and race relations were simmering in the United States.  One could argue that the activists were preparing for the final lap in the civil-rights movement.

We will continue to discover more if his writings, but first, we will write the 21st and final post tomorrow.