" A Failure "

They look at me

waiting for the day I become

a failure.

.

They move around me

waiting for the day to end

and the night to engulf me

as a coiling Phantom Cobra

silently slithering around

a failure.

.

They mock me

waiting for the day I erupt

and beat them until the fields

are soaked with crimson

and their dying eyes see and fear

a failure.

.

They worry me

waiting there, watching my day close

as they sit with their ivory teeth gleaming

in the steady beam of moonlight

wanting to shout out their lies about

a failure.

.

They see through me

and finally realize

their lives are empty

and they have no meaning for existence

because they were too busy laughing at

a failure.

.

And as they realize

I laugh softly

with the knowledge that

by saying nothing I have conquered

the evil shadow surrounding

a failure.

.

I have won ---

quite a statement for such

a failure.

by,

Jamie Hartman

1996