‘Victory’

You are the man who used to boast
That you’d achieve the uttermost,
Some day.

You merely wished a show,
To demonstrate how much you know
And prove the distance you can go…

Another year we’ve just passed through.
What new ideas came to you?
How many big things did you do?

Time… left twelve months in your care
How many times did you share
With opportunity and dare
Again where you so often missed?

We do not find you on the list of Makers Good.
Explain the fact!
Ah no, ‘twas not the chance you lacked!
As usual you failed to act.

by Herbert Kauffman

Source: How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling, Frank Bettger, 1986, New York: Simon & Schuster, Fireside Books, p.14