"Failure" by Alexander Lazarus Wolff

You’d never held a gun before,

the percussion ricocheting

throughout the bones in your skull.

And the sag of your smile, the dismay, as you realize

you will never attain that level of proficiency. Even a single bull’s-

eye would astonish you.

But never mind all of that. Return

to your tenement, lean back in your recliner,

stare at the water stain spreading

on your ceiling, and see the constellation materializing in the sky.

Originally published by Litbreak Magazine.

Alexander Lazarus Wolff is a student at the College of William & Mary. His work has been published or is forthcoming in The Best American Poetry website, The Citron Review, Black Fox Literary Magazine, South Florida Poetry Journal, Main Street Rag, Serotonin, and elsewhere. You can find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wolffalex108/ and on Instagram @wolffalex108