Success

They said, running faster than the wind was impossible.
They said, flight was unthinkable.
They said, that the earth being round was mad.
They said, a middle class was absurdity laced with envy.
They said, it was blasphemy — the earth revolved around the sun.
They said, perpetual energy was beyond the unknown.
They say, a thinking computer is a remote fantasy . . .
But, who are we to judge . . . again?

For centuries,
Aspiring men and women with dreams
Beyond human comprehension
Have faced odds
More infinite than the universe itself.

Despite the ignorant pessimists of their time,
The pre-mature knowledge,
And the primitive tools they had to work with.

Men and women
With larger than life ambitions
Shouldered their causes
To a legendary realm,
We call, success.

A path
That so little of us have truly reached.
One that so many claim to strive for.
But so little actually understand.
It is simply human nature
To regard pleasure before pain.

How many are willing to pay the price
Of sacrifice, denial, and pain
For a moment’s triumph?
Sadly…not many.

For the admirations
Like the breath of time
Quickly fade from feeble men’s hearts.

Our everyday countenances
Reveal an arrogance
That betrays our ultimate cause.

For until
We can re-attain the grandeur and peace
Of a time ago.
We as a whole,
May never truly begin to succeed!

Copyright © 1989 by Jim Ing