FAILURE knows all my faults / the darkest secrets in the deepest vaults / he knows all the tricks & combinations / the dust-covered abominations / Raspail in the Lincoln / what was I thinkin? / he was always hot shit with a puzzle / he’s the plump black nose on the bloodhound’s muzzle / when it comes to trickery he’s positively devout / he’ll always and I mean ALWAYS sniff this shit out / the tripwire primed with the manuscript trug / the pit of sharpened pencils under the tiger rug / all the things I set around the house / the study, the garden & thereabouts / like a giant game of Mousetrap with me as the mouse / and FAILURE poised with his hand on the lever / as personally attentive as dengue fever
FAILURE looks a little like me / if you shuffled things round externally / hyde with a runny nose and sore throat / kicking through the lab trash for the antidote
FAILURE is access ALL my areas / he’s freakin’ hilarious / he’ll show me a view with nothing to oppose it / wait till I’ve definitely chose it / hide behind the door and then close it / man – he’s got great timing and he knows it
FAILURE knows I’ve been working on techniques / to shut him down as soon as he speaks / block him when he tweets / draw the curtain when he stands out in the street / whistling for attention / shouting words too horrible to mention / but he’s just so goddamned insistent / creatively persistent / mindfulness resistant / and when finally I give up on the book / slam the laptop and stop to look / as I frequently do / and confront him with the endless cruelties he’s putting me through / shoot / he turns mute / impossibly cute / dances like a sideshow freak / & suddenly he’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all week / twerkin / his merkin / it’s disgustin / but then – I don’t know / maybe it’s the sort of thing I should do / if I wasn’t so hung up on ideas of SUCCESS / any kind of attention on the radio or the press / so FAILURE – I’m through / we who are about to (write something) dire – salute you! / okay? c’est tout, that’s it / now piss off and let me get on with this shit
jim clayton 
I love this. I think it’s crying out to be read aloud.
Nice one, Jim x
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Thanks Sue! Glad you like it. I keep toying with the idea of doing an open mic at a poetry slam…😬x
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I agree with Sue completely and I think you should do the slam. My advice…as a guy named Mork said to the eggs (as he threw them skyward), “Fly, my friend, be free!”
If you’ve never seen Mork & Mindy, I’m saying “Just Do It!” I really think you’ll enjoy it. I’ve attended them with friends who write poetry and after their first time, they loved it and now perform at them regularly. I feel fairly certain that you would as well. This is the perfect poem to perform as it speaks to EVERYONE who has ever attempted anything.
✌
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I loved Mork & Mindy and that scene with the eggs was brilliant (I think they used it in the title sequence?). Thanks for the encouraging words Patti. It’s been a while since I did any performance (aside from playing in a band – and not so much of that lately) so it’s a scary prospect. …
I’ll keep you posted 😃❤️
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Do it!!
x
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