Failure is the stepping stone

It's like a knife in the gut
Makes me dig myself a rut
Another of those ideas seemingly bright
That turned out to be "oh, not so right"
All those days of burning the midnight oil
All I'm left with is a wad of tissue soiled

On me the stench of sweat
Has a new odor
Called Jealousy and green in color
It challenges my integrity with a mild threat
The cloak of self-pity
Smothers me
A bitterness robs me of my piety
Oh no! I don't want to go down on my knee

The coveted award
Is what I seek
Spare me the consolation rewards
I'm not that meek
If you have words of sympathy
Let them be unspoken
I accept your apathy
As a better token

If you understand my agony
I beg you for silence
Let me not commit the felony
Of pretending indifference
As I continue retrospection
The fights in me die
Weighed down by introspection
I heave a sigh

This war is lost
But battles never end
I'm a warrior waiting to host
A battle that's Godsend

Believe me! I'm not in a fix
A fire in my belly
Oh! So alive daily
Rise will I from the ashes like a phoenix.