Shining Failures

I line them up for you

• Griffoni altar by Francesco del Cossa, Sailko

I dreamt about my failures last night

lined them up

like tin cans on a fence

shining in the sunlight

gleaming

like a set of new pennies

there were so many of them

that my eye couldn’t

really take stock

of a beginning or ending to them

and as I watched them

still and gleaming

I thought about

my willingness to try again

the thought timid and slim

each time

so I packed away each failure

carefully placing a modicum

of success on top,

its shimmer

the last thing I see before I close the lid.

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2012

Reviews

[SkinlessFrank]

i suppose if we can't own up to our failures, there is no hope for us....and if we can't see beyond them, once again we are doomed.....such a lovely melody in this

[Audrey Howitt]

Thank you skinlessfrank---still trying to hear it in my head as I write

[Heather]

ohh to lay out all your failures to review and look at once more is a powerful reflection that can be painful but then to see them with the strength and willingness to try again instead of letting those failures keep lining up. SUCH POWER.

I enjoyed this piece, I can relate to lining up failures to review over and over and the strength in trying again. Thank you for sharing!

[Audrey Howitt]

Thank you for reading!!

[...]

And so you grow strong with deep roots and many branches for dancing leaves :) Lovely, lovely, poetry!

[Audrey Howitt]

Thank you Lynn!

[lee von cleef]

I would drop "to them"after "ending",Modicum? had too look that one up.How soon I grow.I like to think the more failures we have in our foundation ,the less likely we are to fall.I just don't want to look at the truth of that brittle looking man in the mirror.I love a shimmer.
smile Cleef

[Audrey Howitt]

Ah--you may be right about the "to them." Thanks!

[FJ Davis]

I'll wager most of your friends and acquaintances are not only unaware of these supposed many "failures," but would not, at all, consider them failures, if they were.
The trouble with being an intelligent, gifted and accomplished woman, is that your standards are dizzyingly high; your perception, far too keen.
Fortunately, you've managed to fashion a positive, realistic attitude regarding the success-failure question.
An attitude, Audrey, prompting the creation of this uniquely lovely and thoroughly inspiring poem.

[Audrey Howitt]

Thank you Frank! How are you???? You seem to be writing a bunch---yes?

[FJ Davis]

Doing fine, Audrey. Yes, happily, I'm still managing to string a few words.
Thanks for asking! Hope to see you on-site often.

[Mercelus]

I love how it shows that you embraced your failures and used them to inspire you to move onward and succeed, to not let it drag you into the gutters and overcome. We have all come to face failure at one point or another it all depends on how you take it, weither it be positive or negitive.

i really loved this poem.

[An Ordinary Woman]

Hi Audrey. I agree with the others, your poetry is very creative, positive and well written. Very refreshing!

[Star Wolf]

Awesome poem. The way you wrote about failures made it very accessible and visual. This is very skillfully done. I enjoyed reading this and could relate to it.

[Tina Kline]

Why does it always seem like we have more failures than successes? Why do we so dwell on the failures and the negative more so then the successes and the positive? Possibly they leave such deep scars that we can't forget them. A truly splendid write.

[Mary]

Audrey, I randomly found your poetry (you had reviewed someone else). The title intrigued me and your poem is amazing. I think placing a modicum of success on top of each is such a positive way to take stock of our so called failures. (it's a much wiser solution than my first thought of using them as target practice). Your metaphors, choice of words- good work!