Success Or Failure's Failure - Guts and Gain

Success or Failure’s Failure Was it success or failure’s failure, The will to win or a refusal to lose. No guts, no glory!! – no pain, no gain!! He stayed the course – unnoticed, walked early through the cold mist, prayed to a heartless, distant god, answered the call every morning to rise, to stiffen his back, move forward toward another fading sunset. No crowds lined dawn’s damp streets, his only applause the sound of windblown debris clattering on concrete, no ribbons rewarded his perseverance, his laurel wreath a sweat-stained pillow, his trophy case a mantel of children’s pictures. It took guts to amass such gains the sweet touch of love’s regeneration the continuum of living family, the footsteps of a life – following a distant shadow at dawn. Is it success – or failure’s failure? John G. Lawless 7/5/2015