The Risk of Failure

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." - George W. Bush

Two acorns hung on an Oak tree bough,
which swayed in a summer breeze;
from the limb the acorns could see
a field of beautiful multicolored wild flowers
and patches of rich black soil.

One acorn said to the other:
“Sister, let’s drop and roll
to that field over there,
where we can grow unhindered
in Earth’s rich soil.”

“Oh, no,” said her trembling sister,
“we risk failure
if we don’t succeed in our quest!”

The acorns fell to the ground
one rolled down hill,
away from her parent and sister,
toward the meadow where the wild flowers grew,
while the other lay on the hill
in the shade of the parent tree.

Before reaching the meadow, however,
the little acorn tumbled into a ditch,
a gully left by last spring’s snow melt
on its way to the distant sea.

All fall and winter
the acorn lay in the hard packed
and rock strewn soil
failing to put out roots.

Spring came again,
the snow pack melted
and the icy water rushed down the gully
pushing the acorn past the meadow
and depositing it on the edge of a school yard,
where the acorn was covered with soil
and began to grow.

Meanwhile,
back on the hill
her sister covered by shade
and fall leaves
began to decompose
from the lack of light and air.

One hundred years later
a mighty Oak tree stood in the school yard
giving shade to the students playing there.