'Falling Short' by David Mungoshi

FALLING SHORT

So often

The person and the image

Do not merge.

So often

We are lured by an illusion

And we see what may not be there.

So often

We fall short of our ideals

And the expectations that others have of us

But, as they say,

Warmth is a divine attribute

While cold is fiendish

When you truly love someone

You cannot but adore them

For you they are the apotheosis of all that is lovable

And you cannot help doting upon them.

But somehow, despite all the good intentions, we fall short

And hurt the ones we should never hurt

We can be so callous and unfeeling

Until the depth of our loss hits us

 

In the end though

We are forgiven by the Almighty

And hopefully by humankind too

Despite our turning out to be such a bad copy

Of the original

AND DESPITE BEING SUCH A DAMP SQUIB

AND PROVING TO BE NO DIFFERENT FROM ALL THOSE OTHERS

WHO BECAME SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT

TO THEIR LOVED ONES

IN SO MANY WAYS

When all is said and done

I too have been such as I detest

I too have been such a glaring paradox

And I deserve it all:

The contempt and the cold shoulder

 

Life, oh life,

What a ‘drag’ it is falling short!

by David Mungoshi

(A poem written in the small hours of the night

When sleep wouldn’t come)