Fear

Too many things I fear,

But the worst must be failure,

Driving me mad, knowing that the smallest thing wrong

Will ruin the project - miss one comma and the whole meaning changes.

The slightest mistake and it will be no longer perfect,

And it must be perfect,

Or it is nothing at all.

Perfection, they say, is the enemy of good.

But I can't stop, no matter how I've tried,

Something's wrong, uneven, slightly amiss

And I panic and overcompensate,

I repeat and repeat until it's perfect.

To my demise.

So failure is the worst, the raging need for perfection,

The habit I just can't seem to break.

Everything must be perfect,

Or it is nothing at all.