Dear Success,
They said, ‘Keep going,
‘Ne’er give up.’
They said, ‘Follow your heart’,
And I did.
But if it were
As simple as a start,
If all roads lead to you,
Then I’m lost.

I thought I knew
How to reach you
But now I’m unsure.
Unsteady feet shuffle
On life’s tarmac
Riddled with potholes.

I stumble, stumble, fall, fall.
The road never is level.
I’m tired of getting up,
Brushing the dirt away,
Groping in the dark and walking
Just to fall back down again.

Still, the voices keep saying
‘Try, try, try. Just a little more!’
Well, I’ve been trying
Since I fell out of the womb.
‘Someday, somewhere, maybe’
My dictionary is reduced
To connotations of uncertainty.

And failure has proven
A better friend than a foe;
More helpful, more reliable than even you.
And yet I drag myself up, ever onward
For that single glimpse of you.

You may think that you and I
Weren’t meant to meet.
Maybe this charade is only
So you may keep
Likes of me
Pitifully chasing after you;
The moth chasing the flame,
The wolf chasing the moon.

But as long as I have breath in me
I’ll clamber on.
I’ll find a place
In your sacred space
To hang my cape
Before my time is done.

So sit atop your pinnacle
And smirk down from your throne.
One day I’ll have you confined
Within my calloused, clasped hands,
And the ache of my struggle,
Will be like words written in sand.

Copyright ©2018 Pradita Kapahi.

All rights reserved.

Image Source: Ahmed Wassim at Pixabay