The ladder leans
against the apple tree
with a kind of trust~
wood resting on wood,
both patient.
I climb a few rungs
and see the world
from a slightly higher honesty.
my identical twin sister is well-loved in a small town
she has been a nurse to most of the inhabitants
Corydon, Iowa where the average age is 72.
They all ran to her house when she fell off a ladder.
I am not sure what got them there
A scream? A thud? Or inquisitive neighbors looking out windows
But the ambulance pulled up and could barely get through the throng
There are 2800 people in Corydon
Most of them were surrounding my sister
Falling off a ladder in a small town
Different than falling off a ladder anywhere else
Falling from Jacobs Ladder,
Becoming mad at matter,
I'm battered and bruised,
I used all my belief,
My relief covered in grief,
A brief moment of freedom,
Came from falling some,
Clinging on to what's to come,
Little crumbs of hope,
Become threads to the rope,
I use to elope,
Sliding down a steep slope,
Coping with the climb,
Priming myself again,
I know I can win,
My resolve growing thin,
Dissolving into my skin,
Evolving as I sink in,
Thinking it's too late,
Debating another try,
I don't see a reason why,
Every time I reach the sky,
I fly off the hinges,
On the fringes of society,
Bingeing on what I can see,
Enjoying it temporarily,
Knowing what is soon to be,
It happens repeatedly,
I get beat every time,
Climbing the ladder inside.
Trapped in the shadow of my own regret,
A corner of darkness, the sun hasn’t met.
Surrounded by ghosts of the things I didn’t do,
The walls feel tight, the air won’t come through.
Helpless, I sit in the dust and the gray,
And feel the weight of another lost day.
Then I remember the rocks at my feet,
The small, sharp stones, the gritty deceit.
I start to stack them, one by one,
Ignoring the doubt, until I am done.
A crude, shaky ladder, a desperate climb,
I pull myself out, one breath at a time.
Evil eye cast my way.
My luck’s about to turn a corner.
Black cat’s coming this way.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
I went out walking
In the afternoon
I looked to the sky
What would it be like
Climbing a ladder?
Up into the sky?
I pondered my thought
To climb the ladder
i saw the ladder
It had a banister
I could hold onto
When I climbed it
It gave me3 courage
To climb upward
One step at a time
I saw the dark sky
The stars were shining
I saw the dipper
the moon was huge
I saw planets small
I saw planets large
The clouds different shapes
A rainbow seen
Then my foot slipped
Falling so quickly down
Where would I end up?
Falling in darkness
I was frighted
Landing on the ground
From a dream I woke
Roll back the tides of time, and tell,
Of ancient books of myths, of hell,
Of temperance, nuns succumbed to gloom,
Entombed within their living tombs,
Of monks, and saints, and gospel song,
Born gently by the breeze, along,
Of deep toned organs' peeling swells,
Of virgins, Mary, and funeral knells,
Of dim-lit cells and penance loaned,
Which can for one's darkest deeds, atone,
Look back and lift the veil of night,
And view the man, the anchorite,
There he sits, so sad, so pale,
Shuddering at superstition's tale,
Crossing his chest with meager hand,
While saints and priests, a motley band,
Array before him to urge their claim,
To heal, in the Redeemer's name,
To climb the heavenly ladder, made,
By every patron, of every grade,
From wealthy abbot, fat and fair,
To starving child, withering there,
All of them eager to usher in,
The soul, ransomed by It's sin,
And tell me hapless bigot, why,
For what, for whom did Jesus die,
If pyramids and statues of saints must rise,
To form the passage to the skies,
Would you think man can wipe away,
With what but penance, day by day,
One single sin, too dark to fade,
Beneath a bleeding Savior's shade.
Not a Ladder step up
Typewriting keyboard set up
Hands on the keys
Typing letter after letter
Accuracy that matters
Speed will come
Practice makes perfect
Afterwhile, you will become a typing dynamo
You will be your own quick moving typing gizmo
Pace yourself
Be calm and patient
Don’t let anxiety get to you
In due time
Typist will be in you.
People love the rolling ladder in our store.
We use it to shelve some of our rarer sets of books.
Many people who enter tell us how great that ladder looks.
But to me that ladder is much more than a 10,000 year old innovation.
It is a symbol…a gesture…a stairway to ones imagination.
Our store is filled with people who climbed the ladder of their imagination
and when they stopped to take a look…
Wrote down or drew everything they saw
and shared with us their book.
And we get to go along with them as they climb that ladder
all the way up to the moon…
As they ride whales, befriend dragons, or ride in a big balloon.
As they talk to animals, storm castles, feast with queens and kings…
or from the comfort of their bedroom visit the land of wild things.
Yes, the bookstore is filled with stories other people wrote
as they climbed the ladder of their imagination…
and we love to read their words and visit the lands of their creation.
But the ladder in our bookstore stands as a reminder…
that our own ladder of imagination is with us all the time…
standing proud and tall and ready…
for us to begin the climb…
Yes
It's rungs
May be covered in rust
But commit to the climb
To learn how to trust
Yes
You'll fall
Again and again
Caught by the arms
Of a very old friend
Yes
You'll be put
Back at the start
A journey to the place
Where you're never apart
Yes
Your hands
Will be battered and bruised
Take solace in a fate
You surely didn't choose
Yes
This climb
Has no real end
But neither does the truth
For which we ascend
When you finally finish climbing,
Out of the darkest pits,
You reach the light, shining,
You're happy and everything fits.
Then you feel those hands,
Grasping, pulling, clawing at your back,
You're drug back down in the sands,
Hope, future, Life, fades back to black.
I am burning in the sweltering heat
And it is just over a hundred degree
The sun is burning in my head
And a terrible pain is writhing in my neck
And water is springing up in my face
But I am holding on to my grace
I was wondering how to ease this discomfort
When all that I could see was a valley of trees
Standing up in front of me and flies crusading in the ceiling
And cobwebs stretching about
Oh how it makes my spirit wants to shout
Hope suddenly rose out of the ground
And saturate my flesh and I breath
A sigh of relief and my spirit emerge from the deep
But my spirit began to weep and the tension rolled away
And took all the bad feelings away
And suddenly a streak of light filled the sky
And Just as I thought of it the rain clouds burst open
And fill my soul and cool down the temperature
On the ground, nature is always standing by
To rescue me from the heat and fill me up with words
To climb the ladder of hope.
He was a success and on top of the world,
But his triumph came at a great price,
Had stepped on too many lives,
Up the ladder to the top.
He sat behind a big mahogany desk,
And soon knew he was over his head,
Was not prepared for the task,
For someone at the top.
Tried to hide the big mistake by pretending,
But all the executives knew,
It was just a matter of time,
Before he would be through.
He was among so many that greed has warped,
Ambitions and skill could not support,
But was promoted to the top,
Of his incompetence.
Blood on the ladder of success.
Not a sign of progress,
Whatever the worldview,
It’s a crime, nonetheless.
396, 417, 528
Climbing the celestial staircase
To that sweet heavenly space
639 love, love divine. A pause at the crossroads, the beautiful heart at the center of it all
Connecting vibrant, verdant earth as Jacob continues his upward crawl
741, 852, 963
Removing obstacles for an even higher ascent
Steadfastly moving up the corridor with spiritual intent
Freeing, now the first eye is open and active
Seeing god face to face, divinely abundant, I live
Mind over matter
Climb that company ladder
Pockets get fatter
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