Elsa's Quest - The Story. Chapter 24 - Next. Almost Giving Up.

Who Will Help Me with My Spark?
Where is My Match?

Do I stay with that the kind of mood?

Or do I switch to something upbeat? Perhaps warm? Loving?

Easy in the Morning Light
Ready for Take-off
Heavy Breezes
If We Keep Flirting
The Warmth Within

It’s rather taboo these days to stay any length of time on things that aren’t that so easy to live. The push: focus on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Let everyone know how you found out how to shine like a star.

The emotion I remember most in my father’s poems. Longing - in German, Sehnsucht. No pot of gold.

As for me, I’d say one of the deepest ongoing feelings is the sense that it matters not to give up. My first piece ever was about that. Whatever it is - it matters not to give up. But I have often gotten close.

ALMOST

I give in
I give up
I knuckle under
almost

I wish that you
could tell me true
what to do
or almost

I have a dream
and it does seem
I could make it real
almost

I wonder now
could you tell me how
to live my life

Yet let me be
It's my life, for me
to mess up
or not to

Ah I don't know
which way to go
'cause I'm confused

It didn't use
to be this way
It's hard every day
almost

I try to listen to
the me inside
But which me?
I think I hide

And then with friends
I open wide
and I have fun
But it's still hard
and then...

I give in
I give up
I knuckle under
almost

I've had enough
Times are tough
I want things to happen
now
I want to know
which way to go

I know the lines
Give it time
Some things are fine
Don't turn to crime
Don't suck a lime
Don't spend your last dime
Don't worry Be happy

And I roll my eyes
And despise those lines

Yet then
I try again
and I find
things go okay
if I give them time
and if I try
to hang loose
and to choose
to do my best
or almost

As for the rest
who can tell?
What the hell
Kung fu to you
So much for the blues
the blahs
the blobs
the flus

I got it all
almost

They say
a lot is
up to me

and I will see
if I can't reach
something so each
of us will say
hey dude cool
or at least
something that would
make me feel good
and I could say
hey dude cool

Have a blast
Life's a gas
Razzamatazz
or almost

But then
I'm too blue
It's no use
I'm through
almost

I give in
I give up
I knuckle under
almost

I say
to myself
so only I can hear

Hang in there
in the middle of
nowhere
when no one cares

'Cause then
there's a chance

Yeah, sometimes
I have a dream
And it does seem
I could make it real

And then
I try again
And I find
that things
go okay
if I give them time
and if I try
to hang loose
and to choose
to do my best
or almost

Elsa

March 1994
© copyright Elsa Schieder, 1994, 2026, all rights reserved.

It took 30 years for me to put this piece online (Feb 24, 2026):
https://elsasemporium.com/almost.html

Somehow some other piece always took precedence.

Then recently it came to be part of MOMENTS:
https://elsas-word-story-image-idea-music-emporium.com/almost-give-up-poem.html

Okay, so I haven’t given up. But where to next? And why there?

I don’t know yet.

END of CHAPTER 24

TO BE CONTINUED …

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ELSA’S QUEST - THE STORY & PAST POSTS:
elsaiselsa.substack.com/elsas-quest

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https://elsasquest.com
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Posted June 24, 2026