This one's for the also-rans

This one’s for the also-rans

Who loved but whom love lost

Who also dreamt of making plans

But paid the higher cost

Who fortune favoured fleetingly

Although their moves were bold

Who never got the luxury

To see themselves grow old

This one’s for the also-rans

Whose passions weren’t returned

A boat not quite remembered

On a tack that seldom turned

Their features went unmentioned

Their novels went unread

Their details stayed unwritten

By the pen outside their head

This one’s for the also-rans

For they too made the race

Without their added ballast

It would run a different pace

So let’s make up the numbers

‘Til one plus one is three

This one’s for the also-rans

Yes this one is for me.