Khalid Mukhtar

There is no life that can survive
The desolation of my sin
A vast and barren nothingness
For miles and miles, all deep within

But one endures the worst of it:
A tree that doesn’t stand so tall
Nor is its spread of branches wide
It’s just a tree that’s there, that’s all

And there it is, a sole survivor:
Hope. My hope will see its death
Upon a wind that cuts like sword
That blows before my final breath

I hear a lot of people say
Let’s teach our kids to fail

Take care you don’t conflate this with
Going in with little preparation

All you do there
Is desensitize a soul to failure
And teach them that
There is always an excuse
For poor performance

Something or someone
To blame it all on

That is not a failure to learn from
That is merely the consequence of dereliction

No, let’s not do that
Let’s prepare our children to prepare
To go for the long haul
To pour their blood and sweat
Into whatever vessel
Their battles will be fought in

Prepare them

Prepare them to squeeze themselves
Until they can say
Truthfully
I’ve done all I can, so here goes

And then when they fail
Now THERE is something
Worth learning from

See the man who donned
Two coats of mail
He taught us a lesson
In how to fail

If the bounds of creation
In space is the throne
What then stresses the limits
Of time

How this moon makes me think
Of a tree standing lone
Beyond which steps a human
Sublime

It’s a thought worthier than
This rhyme