Mistakes

by

Andrew O. Leskinen

We don’t treasure our mistakes

We don’t collect them

In a scrapbook

Of precious memories

Instead we lock them away

Behind a nervous laugh

Darting eyes

And a shaky smile

We pretend they don’t matter

We deny they are the foundation

Of whom we are

Accomplishments made us the person

We have become

Or so we say

But achievements are only the armor

We drape around our mistakes

Shielding them from view

Mistakes make us complete

They make us whole

They make us human

Mistakes are the building blocks

Of each celebrated accomplishment

They are not to be hidden

Forgotten, locked away

Swept away under the cloak of our accomplishments

They are the foundation of our very existence

They are to be treasured

So that the very structure of our being

Doesn’t crumble and collapse.

It is time they are honored