Got A Second?

That may be all it takes to fix anything.

Contest Prompt

"write an allegorical story or poem''

Elmo was second best
He passed the test
In everything he tried

His motto, do or die.
Second hand stuff
Was all he would buy

Just a second, he’d demand
As a new task came to hand
And on him it’d solidly land.

His first try always failed
On it he had to bail
As others looked on and paled.

Elmo became famous in a second hand way
As he put on not first, but his second try display
He won first place. It broke his heart to this day.

He put his trophy on the shelf
He now felt very much unlike himself
Had he become a first class elf?

At first he wanted just to give up
A second thought made him finer stuff
Give it a try, just make it off the cuff.

Think of Elmo when you do
First attempts usually get screwed.
Take a second for a different point of view.

24 line poem