The Way Up
David Whitfield 1966 (Sherman TX)
Upon the correlation
Of profit and loss, I guess
The things I’ve blown or brought me success
Do very little for my ego
For I am horrified
The days like sand through hourglass fall
Spent misdirected or doing nothing at all
Are greater than days lived nobly
But who can
Determine whether loss or gain will stay
Failure may be triumph on the way
The bottom of the barrel may be the way up
About this poem
This little poem came about one morning by the sudden realization that I'd not written in my journal for a good many days. That led to despair over wasted time and failure. Then at last the bright thought that days of inactivity or even failure most likely are on the same eventual path to success.
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Written on October 22, 2020
Submitted by davidw.81707 on November 28, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 22 sec read
- 8 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | XAAX XBBX XCCX |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 389 |
| Words | 76 |
| Stanzas | 3 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Way Up" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/114735/the-way-up>.
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