Keys to Success

a poem about a piece of advice my editor (now close friend) at the student newspaper i wrote for attempted to give me one day. it happened to stick because i found it so funny

"it takes courage and something else" you said

not remembering the second part

and for sure i thought it must have been confidence

or compassion,

or patience,

or smarts

you kept on forgetting to find out for me

what that motivational speech really said

and so for weeks i'd keep having to remind you

while i pondered 

it in

my head

until on one insignificant late monday afternoon

as i was close to giving up on what it could be

you smirked and said the keys to success

were simply

courage and

curiosity

Reviews

[emipoemi]

WOW! Well executed and very moving and encouraging. If I may, now, the second stanza, since the last couple of lines - especially the penultimate - aren't really important enough to merit their own lines, I wouldn't suggest the line breaks (you do that for the sake of consistency, which is not wrong, it's just that the other stanzas truly line break to isolate certain ideas and whatnot. So just to a) break from consistency, and b) only line break when absolutely necessary and not just for aesthetic purposes, make Stanza 2 four lines). Also, "insignificant" in Stanza 3 is too much of a mouthful for the musicality to carry over that line. I would suggest to get rid of it. It flows better without. Well done overall. Much enjoyed.

[Jamie]

Great writing and it has such a good flow, Great work!

[A. Wrin]

Thanks! That means a lot.

[Jamie]

You're welcome :) Feel free to review my stuff :)

[Sarura]

My smile grew throughout reading your poem. It's very fun to read, and carries a message, indeed. :)

Stay courageous,
stay curious.

[A. Wrin]

It was a worthwhile piece of advice, the first of many lessons I'd carry on from those conversations. Thank you for reviewing :)