Getting to the finish line

They say showing up is 90% of success.
Wise words, no doubt,
But hollow, nonetheless.

It’s not that it’s bad advice
It’s just that it’s not precise.

For, yes, showing up, may get you almost there,
But do not misconstrue,
As you sit on your chair,
waiting for your fair share.

As much as we prepare
As much as we care
Working our hands bare
Even losing our hair

It’s the last 10 percent that really is the key
Take a moment and see
if you disagree.

For what happens in the last steps
of the storied project journey
even to this wordy poet
seems quite blurry

These are the moments to reach deep down inside
Often it seems,
It is more than we can provide.

It’s much easier to just stop
and whine and fret
like a little child
we didn’t get what we wanted yet.

Beyond feeling upset
Noticing our debt and our sweat
We are met with a threat
To feel substantial regret.

Why did we arrive
at this 91 percent today
Only to get to this point
and waste it away?

I guess we got one more percent
for listening inside
I still feel angsty
Feeling denied.

Why isn’t everything delivered to me?
I work hard
I’m smart
Can’t you agree?

When you scream in the bellows of
lonely dark dreams
what you do feel are the extremes.

For that is what the body
and the heart
and the mind
feels at the 92,
your doubts defined and combined.
Confined
Declined
Designed to be resigned
to a feeling
that feels misaligned.

Working our way to 93 takes effort
Roll up the sleeves
Put on a fresh shirt.

Be warned this is when
You may start to get angry
You’ll start to convince yourself it’s everyone’s else fault,
quite frankly.

But of course you know this part is not true
The reason you think this
is personal to you.
It’s time to review
the Why you pursue
Getting to the line
you must get to.

If the why is the three,
then what is the four?
First, one must stop
the yearn to be lifted through the door.
When you explore
What came before
It’s easy to see
what you cannot ignore.
So much of childhood
is getting the lift
And on to adulting
marks the shift.

Teamwork certainly helps,
but what if it’s not there
Take a moment in prayer to repair and prepare.
I declare
Through despair
I will meet this square.

At the mark of ninety-five
your consistent thought bellows-
“I’m never enough” to thrive.
This is probably the hardest part of of the final stretch
the artists reward what a kvetch.

You look around you and everyone else is focused on other things
Not thinking about you and your project needs
They expect you to…

[note to self: finish this poem later] 😉

you see what i did there…