FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE

Failure why don't you just go away?

Bothering me so much every day

I never heard your name before i arrived here

How come you didn't accompany me before?

I was born without you and your influence

How come you accompanied me across the sea?

I need to be alone, I am a loner, why don't you understand?

Need no company of any one especially you

There was a time when i used to miss people, 

friends, companions, relatives

But instead you sneaked in

and you sneaked in...

Wasn't looking for you...

Never.

But you were waiting for me at the end of the boat ride

But I didn't take a boat after all

I arrived by a plane like a successful traveller

and you heard about the arrival and ran from the docks to the airport

to receive me the  very first day...

and you have never left me since then...

You and you alone have been the most constant companion 

Like a bad marriage 

bothering me, critical and un-approving

of whatever I try to accomplish...

" failure, failure. failure.

" you whisper in my exhausted ears

all day and all night

even in my sleep

you wake me up so many times

Need a thousand sleeping pills

Why were you waiting for me at the airport?

In this city no one waits for any one

No one waits for any one anywhere now...

Don't you have anything else to do?

Why don't you go after the high achievers and go getters?

Wouldn't  you look better being attached to some glittery monument?

I want to be alone

How many times I have begged you to understand that

I am happy to be alone with myself...

I don't need you to tell me what you repeat every second

Now I am capable of telling myself a thing or two...

So why don't you just go away

Go back to the airport

International arrival

Idiots arrive every day

Go whisper in their ears your precious, ominous words

I didn't take you seriously first

But you were so persistent

See What persistence can do...

Perhaps I should learn something from you

Your persistence...

"Persistence of failure."

Should be the title of my new poem...

I see the flickering smiles of satisfaction and happiness

on the faces of my so called, "Friends."

My,"friends." always wanted me to fail

They were perhaps your relatives

At least you made them happy...

Now they can go ahead, get ahead, and,"make it"

But good luck to you and all your relatives...

But if you now leave me

I promise I will keep your memory alive

And will always write poems of, "Failure."

I am not American

I don't have to have ,"positive attitude." 24 hours of the day...

I came from ancient lands where people tell each other

stories of war and ruin and starvation and oppression and occupation

They all sit together in a circle around the fire out doors in a bombed out court yard

wrapped in Pashmina Shawls which the occupier wants to steal.

Occupier is always from the colder lands

Needs Pashmina for sure to keep him warm in his snowy country...

But those people surrounded by the ruins of their lands

smoking hooka pipes never mentioned the word, "Failure."

I notice that now...

No mention of failure at all.

I wonder why not ?

They are the ones who have failed miserably....

But the, word, "FAILURE." I only heard in the successful lands...

Success was everywhere in the civilized, rich, democratic lands...

 but the failure kept whispering in my ears...

,'Failure..."fail...ure"...fa..il..ur..e."