Where I Failed Poem by Raj Dronamraju

A lot of people don't have to try that hard
They are born into an already up and running situation
An organization that has existed for some decades
A pirated routine that shares its booty with crewmembers' offspring

Each captain and his kind ruled a small sanctuary
They interacted with others
They went out by themselves
They didn't keep in touch or they married and stayed close by

They dug up money for college and networked for jobs
They burrowed in a straight line like moles
Shrugged off unexpected tragedies
And used a code of people known by others to slither in and out

Me, I was left on the doorstep of capitalism
Grew up in a house of shadows and made no connection with daylight
My problem was I tried too hard
My problem was I didn't try hard enough

My problem was shouted out and bounced off stone walls like an echo
I killed a mountain and stepped over it find a 100 more mountains
I berated myself with an interrogator's unrelenting dispatch
Non-step reminding of where I failed

Among rejection and poverty, unemployment that lasts for months, loneliness that lasts for a lifetime
I have failed to accomplish anything
In the beginning and the middle and the end, there was effort
The effort rang a bell
But like Quasimodo, I had to kidnap the gypsy to get her to spend time with me