As Bad as a mile

On the surface, As bad as a mile seems like a light hearted poem about the persona (Larkin?) casually missing throwing an apple core into a bin. However, if you delve deeper, Larkin Subtly reveals his own beliefs that he has not achieved much in life and regards himself to be a failure in life and that him missing the shot is symbolic of him missing so many chances in life. Also it was not down to luck it was down to failure.