Poem assignment

To be turned in to the dean before Friday:

I stand in the doorway.  Accomplishments shine behind me.  Imagination beckons before me.  

Fear and doubt shake my resolve.  I imagine failure. I picture defeat.

I resist the familiar and safe past.  I choose to pass through and anticipate nothing. 

Such is the choice I make. It is foolish and irrational, I realize.  I am not a gambling man. I do not make moves unless I am certain.

For I am uncertain of my performance.  I may fail.  My best may not be good enough.

But I am gambling for a prize that is worth the smallest of chances.