A POEM BY R. STEPHEN
Long walls come
to those who wait.
Wind-driven whitecaps
canter to a peeling pulse;
ocean roaming stallions
send wave riders crashing.
Only one stands:
vanquisher of the band.
Spoils of black barley,
to savour on the shore.
About This Poem
Long Walls Come to Those Who Wait: A Tribute to Patience and Power
I wrote Long Walls Come to Those Who Wait after revisiting the iconic Guinness Surfer advert from 1999. That piece of film has stayed with me for years. The colossal wave, the white horses bursting through the surf, the stubborn determination of the lone rider who refuses to fall. I wanted the poem to echo that same sense of anticipation and reward, the idea that patience is not passive but powerful.
The wind driven whitecaps, the ocean stallions, the peeling pulse of the wave. These images came from leaning into the advert’s blend of myth and grit. The surfers crash, one by one, until only a single figure remains upright. That moment of triumph, quiet and absolute, is what I wanted to capture. The poem ends with the spoils of black barley, a nod to the advert’s closing sentiment and the reward that comes to those who wait long enough for the right moment.
It is a short poem, but it carries the weight of the message that inspired it. Strength is nothing without patience. Victory is nothing without the wait.
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