Failure as Sweet as Vinegar

Failure as Sweet as Vinegar

In this jar of vinegar—my failure,

Within this jar—my sweet candy of success.

I can’t stand the taste,

But each day I swallow more

And glare though amber putrescence

At my wonderful prize inside.

My face shows pearls to stop the gagging.

“Last night I dreamed I dropped you,”

I tell the jar, “then waded through fume

and the fire in my eyes and plucked my

prized candy from the wet muck of you.

For my cleverness

I thought I had earned it.

To discover this shortcut that had been there all along.

So with care I popped my prize

past my grinning lips

and rolled it on my tongue.

But all I could taste was vinegar.