Joseph Powell lives and writes in Antioch, Tennessee.

Failure Is A Bruise, Not A Tattoo
By Joseph Powell

Seen on a church marquee
this morning,
“Failure is a bruise,
not a tattoo”;
words,
I needed to read,
At just that moment;
Sometimes,
they come at you like that,
like a poem
you didn’t know
you had in you;
or a long-forgotten song
that used to inspire you,
That now,
Makes you feel
Just as strong
As it did back then;
Like the words,
‘I love you’,
From your lover,
Or your mother,
Or your daughter–
Those three words
That will never get old;
Like the words,
Some wise person
At a local church
Came up with,
Who was inspired,
Maybe even encouraged,
To put on their marquee,
For people
Like me,
Who need to know
That we
Are not failures;
At least,
Not the failures
We commit;
That,
Like bruises,
They are only
Temporary;
They fade away,
And then,
Are gone,
Like tears
In rain;
And what remains,
Can be
Just as beautiful
As
A brightly inked
Tattoo.