“Failure to Success” A Poem by Cathy Dora Rumnong, ID-DU2023MAS0047, Department of English

I’m supreme, I made people happy! says success.
They owned their luxuries, they smiled under grandeur ceilings,
Pick-up travels to every possible corner of the world.
They want me, wait for me impatiently, seek my visit in their life.
It’s a pity for you, dear Failure
Who are you to them?
They want you the least,
They’re not wrong either, you bring pain anyway.

Achievers like them had at least found me once or twice;
They will not touch zenith, without me teaching them, says Failure.
A man walks without fear of his future,
Live his present, neglecting his past.
Comes what may, he says best, that’s man!
Why does he need potholes to alarm him,
Obstacles to know his strength,
Adversity to check his endurance capacity.
If these aren’t instructors to teach him, then who?
Aren’t they more than just life’s tools for training?
Is a man that ignorant, to need coaching?

Yet my importance in his path, is now to be known, says Failure,
If I’d leave him to sail his boat without warnings,
I’m certain he’d die not just fail, just as I’m certain of death.
The instant he steps on me (potholes) and falls,
He’s never standing up again.
It’s then when I stand erect to console and preach too,
Pain is gain;
Failure a stepping stone towards success, is what you should pay heed to.
Hear me oh you ignorant, arrogant one,
Failure to Success,
We need to walk hand in hand;
The world finds happiness through grief,
Love through disgust, much as victory through defeat,
A best friend through a stranger, everything through something,
They found you through me.
Do you hear me?