Does a bird measure the success of its flight, or simply fly? After a moderately successful day at the market, I carried that question home. Sometime during the night, it became a poem.
Successfully Unsuccessful
Am I unsuccessfully successful
or
Successfully unsuccessful?
What is successful?
Why be successful?
Who defines success?
Is being successful?
simply being successful
at being unsuccessful?
or
being a failure at being unsuccessful?
Is Corporate greed being successful?
or
self-righteousness being unsuccessful?
What is successful?
Who defines success?
As the magpie continues its flight…
The poem ends here. The questions do not.
Ivor Steven © October 2026
Most successful musical selection! 🎶🥰
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Good question, Ivor.
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Each individual has to define what success is for themselves. Those who don’t, allow others to define what success is for them.
For example a college degree is not a guarantee one will be successful, nor is a lack of one an indication that one will not be a success.
The true measure of success is achieving whatever goal one sets for themselves.
If a bird kept questioning his ability to fly he would never get off the ground.
I see you as a success because after retirement you reinvented yourself as a poet.
Choosing a new purpose to give your life meaning…
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