"What you want is stupid, and you won't attain it anyway."
These are the words of encouragement the wife has given
To our kids. Of four, just one has found success. I cannot
Tell you how she did. The others flounder, not exactly ruined,
But beset by wounds which sap them. They can't move ahead,
And, worse, they still can hear their mother, who repeats her
Old refrain, "You'll fail," which keeps their spirits broken,
And assures they will.