III

Ambition if it persists is
Unlikely to be stupidly stubborn
Finding virtue in compromise

Achievement and its reverse
Also depending on war and
Peace, poverty or prosperity
How sudden and strong the storm

Leading to stupendous falls
Ambition seldom surviving
Or in wounded recovery
Fundamentals reconceiving

Astride a strong foundation
Ambition tends to soar
Sometimes too soon with
Mortar still too wet to set

Rarely finding ground
Most of these buried
While digging what will be
Ambition’s crypt and grave

Even then fading
Round by round
Into favorite fantasy
Distraction or delusion

II

Beginnings are fragile
Not many make the turn
From tired or typical to
Something close to beautiful