I really like Liz's take on how failure makes her feel. It's interesting; almost makes you wonder what type of failure she has "experienced" in order to describe it in such a way...?
To me, though, to feel failure is to feel something larger than yourself. If you were to look at my life through another's eyes, they might feel that failure is something I've never experienced. At the same time, one might say that failure is all I've experienced. If you want to know what I see when I look upon my life, well, I see a little bit of both -- failure and success. I see the essence of success everywhere. Success is that lasting impression one leaves on another -- whether it be through actions or words -- but it's also the impressions that we leave on ourselves. Success is reached when we can look in the mirror and see that we are truly a beautiful (figuratively speaking, but also literally speaking) person. Success can be as simple as waking up in the morning and being able to smile when there's nothing to smile about. Success, to me, is anything of a positive connotation.
Now, failure, well, that's just the opposite. Failure is anything of a negative connotation. The thing is, failure is divided into two categories: everlasting failure and terminal failure. A failure, again, to me, is only "true" if it's an everlasting one. Like, for example, a simple failure may be a poor grade on a quiz. This is merely a terminal failure because you can always re-take the quiz or study harder for the next one. However, it can become an everlasting failure if you let it eat at you. That one poor grade leads you to not caring about your education and yourself, which leads you down a worse road (like depression, for example). Again, you can turn back at any point (which makes this a terminal failure), but some cannot, which makes it an everlasting failure. Everlasting failure is the absence of faith/hope. It's that feeling you get when you look in the mirror and turn away because you cannot look yourself in the eyes. It's the feeling when you feel so low that nothing matters anymore, not even yourself.
I don't know how I could put it simply because I'm not sure that I even understand failure myself, but I think failure is a feeling beyond words. Well, it's beyond my words, at least. Failure is certainly one of those things that you must feel to comprehend, but I don't think I ever have felt "true" failure. Sure, I've messed up just as much (...or maybe a bit less... one of the few things that protective parents are good for. Haha) the next person, but I don't think they were "true."
Hm, this is quite the question, G. I always try to take a shot at your questions, but this one leaves me confused and speechless. I'm going to have to think on this more and if I come to a better conclusion, I'll edit.
And now, the poem. You see, I could tell you that it's an amazing piece, but I don't want to do that. The writing is amazing, the emotion is amazing, the message is amazing. Everything is amazing, but it feels so wrong to call a piece about failure amazing. I don't know, it's just like "jumbo shrimp." It makes no sense... shrimp shouldn't be jumbo, so a poem about failure shouldn't be amazing. It just shouldn't be, but G, you always come out successful with your pieces.
I really liked how you worked with the grammar of the piece. Maybe it's just because I'm obsessed with grammar, but I think it made me like the piece more. Haha, I'm the one that will be completely thrown off if I see a comma in the wrong place. It'll ruin the whole piece for me. With this poem, though, I don't see that as a problem.
I also liked how you kind of gave the reader space to develop their own thoughts on what the poem was describing. Maybe it's just me (again), but I feel like a lot of the lines could be used to describe courage. Now isn't that interesting: what describes failure also seems to be able to describe courage. ...I feel like I'm onto something. :)
Hm, I wish I could be of more help, but it's really one of those things that you have to have "experienced" to talk about fully. G, I don't know how you do it, but somehow, you were able to write a piece on failure. Maybe you were lucky (yes, lucky) enough to experience failure at its best (yes, best) and write a piece about it. I wish I could say the same for myself, but you know, one must know what failure is to actually feel it. ...Oh gosh, that's not an insult, although it may sound like one. Haha, oh, I need to be quiet now...