Failure

It's not my fault she said
counting on her fingers reasons why,
and moving on to toes she thinks
it's just not worth it.
I must have missed something
between the here and the there,
and reasons don't change anything
and neither does prayer,
it seems.
It's still upon my very own shoulders
which seem to wax and wane
with the season, and the weather.
Either you do, or you don't
and then the chance is gone.
As she gets older she tries hard to see
that each failure contains potentiality
for analysis and gain.
And this guy named Winston said
success is the ability to go
from failure to failure
without losing enthusiasm.
Perhaps, though hard to fathom
it's not the failure itself
but lack of willingness to try again
that is the true weakness.
As she sits there with a crease
in her brow, she tries to figure how to
change her focus
from excusing to improving,
from scourging to encouraging,
from punishment to adjustment,
and with a sigh
her little mope is slowly stolen by a little hope.