Darn It, I Keep On Making The Same Mistakes

A Poem

John O'Neill
2 min readSep 27, 2021

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

When will I ever learn
Never it seems
Making the same mistakes over and over
Too often acting like the very person
That I was determined
Not to be

I actually saw myself in my younger days as super special
Success in life virtually guaranteed
Smart as a whip
Academic awards were indeed readily achieved
Possessing the moral fiber
That even saints would envy

Oh how humbling life can be
The realization I’m just another fallible human
Struggling to give meaning and purpose to my life
The many traps I have fallen into along the way

A father overly involved in his children’s activities
As if trying to relive my life through them
Their success or failure a reflection of me
Knowing in advance that this was not the right path
Confident I could avoid this
I did not
Maybe some redemption to be found
In my dealings with my grandchildren
Maybe

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John O'Neill

Retired human services executive, living in Massachusetts near Boston, trying to be a better human being each day than the day before.