Raven Cage has published the following poems:
Failure is not an option
My failures
Total Success or Total Failure
Dejavu All Over Again
General Failure Reading Disk Drives
Raven Cage Publishes Poems
Failure is Not an Option
Failure is not an option
Is a weasel word
Weasel words
Are Orwellian words
Designed to shut down
Rational thought
And ironically
these words
“Failure is not an Option”
usually accompanied by macho posturing
and false bravado
and extreme hubris
Often leads to spectacular failure
Because logically speaking
Failure is always an implied option
as is the null hypothesis of doing nothing
nothing at all and let the status quo
remain the stars quo
Leaders need to look at all options
Including what to do
If they fail to achieve their goals
or doing nothing at all
They must have a plan
To learn from their failures
If not following the dictates
The false macho posturing
That failure is not an option
Will often lead to the feared failure
On Failure
They say that failure
Is the best teacher of all
And I have learned
from the proverbial
school of hard knocks
So much from my failures
And I have failed so much
In my life
But I have gotten better
Stronger and wiser
and am a much better person
Because I have failed
And embraced my failures
Failed first grade
Almost failed math and physics
Failed music college
Almost failed statistics in college
and graduate school
just don’t have a mathematical mind
Almost failed my life
in the Peace Corps
Dealing with Typhoid
Almost failed my job
when I was in Bangkok
Almost failed my life
In the hospital for almost a year
battling a mutant staph MDR infection
from hell
and an acute GI infection
that almost killed me
later battled dengue fever
Almost failed to learn Spanish
Failed as a visa chief in Spain
And throughout my failures
There is one thing I learned
With the support of my wife
And my friends
I can and will overcome
everything that
life throws at me
and become even stronger
wiser and a better person
because I have overcome
and learned from
my failures
Dejavu All Over Again

Looking at the dismal news
As the virus spreads
Out of control
With no end in sight
Back in April
Hospitals begged for relief
From a lack of PPD
And equipment etc
And for a few weeks
It seemed we were fine
But we failed to prepare
For the continuation of the pandemic
And our stockpile has been overwhelmed
Our hospitals are overwhelmed
And it could have been prevented
If our leaders had kept up
Stockpiling for the inevitable second wave
Even as the first wave has yet
To reach its peak
So I say
It is all dejavu all over again
General Failure Reading Disk Drive
My computer loves
Spitting out error messages
Written like haiku
Mysterious messages
Hard to understand
only computer geeks
can follow
My favorite has always been
General Failure Reading Disk drive
The question comes to mind
Who is this General Failure
And why is reading my disk drive
Anyway?
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