Sometimes

Sometimes
Looking back at the life I have lived thus far
I feel
As If I can do nothing right
As if each step is in the wrong direction
As if
Despite best intentions
And honest effort
All that I set out to accomplish
Is destined to erode
Before my eyes
For I leave in my wake
A trail littered in failure

But then I am reminded
That failure
Understood and applied
Is a lesson learned
Is an opportunity
To avoid such mistakes
When I am next presented
With a similar circumstance
And if there is anything I know for certain
It is that life is fraught with repetition
That challenges arise
With an almost preordained consistency
Always pushing us forward
Desperate, almost
For redemption
For what are we
But a product of cyclical iteration
A manifestation
Of “learned and applied it”
The sum of our predecessors’ failures and successes…