The Faces Of Failures Poem by RIC BASTASA

a boy before he can
talk and
walk must be taught that life has two faces

the first face is that of success
the other is dismal failure
the latter has more than five shadows
and they always chase you
to disarm you
and then kill you

a father must train the boy to love
not just the first face
but also the second
lest he can be a candidate for
extinction

when this boy grows to be a man
the faces of failure and its thousand shadows
cannot defeat him
not one of them
even the one with live snakes on her head
can turn him into
a useless piece of stone.