Almost is so tragic.
It’s just about there, but not quite yet.
It can hold so much optimism, and it can bring so much relief.
I acknowledge it can be a word full of hope, a word deserving of a pat on the back because ‘Hey! You almost made it!’, it’s tragic because it sometimes turns desperation into false hope.
You almost finished, but couldn’t.
You almost won, but lost.
You almost succeeded, but failed.
Almost is tragic.
…But this of course, is only one pessimistic perception of the word.
a form of therapy 
I agree. I even took the same view when I tackled the “almost” word prompt…
After the fact, it occurred to me that sometimes it functions as a motivator…a reason to try again, and try harder, but it’s just not the first thing that comes to mind for me. To me it sounds like the word that comes before, “but you didn’t…”
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Just gave it a read, great poem! Flows so well! I definitely see how it can be seen as optimistic just as much as it can be seen pessimistic. This one left me thinking for awhile and I discussed it with my friends, only to be told I was overthinking a word that had no connotations without context haha. It definitely can serve as motivator though, you’re right.
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I feel like most people would agree that it has more of an immediately negative connotation than a positive one. It is, after all, quite tangent to “failure”…
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