A house with stairs encourages
The residents or guests
To exercise a little
As the layout thus suggests.
The up and down momentum
Never registers a thought
As family members make their way
To rooms that they have sought.
But often people, as they age,
Have trouble with the stairs.
No longer can they race on up
Or they’ll trip unawares.
A move may be in order
To a nice one-level space
Where there isn’t any staircase,
Letting people age in place.
Though the stairs present no challenge
In my current fitness state,
Many others that I know will find
This hindrance out too late.
THE CIRCLE STAIRS
The circle stairs
Wound their way
Rusted silos
Painted grey
Into the clouds
Round and round
So we would hide
And not be found
Bits of plaster
Broken walls
We used as chalk
To mark how tall
The circle stairs
We found our way
Inside that dark
All it allows
Secrets shared
Truth or dare
Our first kiss
With open mouths
Where Bottles spin
With proper nouns
Our escape
Into the clouds
Growing up in an underprivileged community ... Most buildings for housing were three story flats ... Each had a shed attached to the back gallery ... Together they ran the length of the building ... Made of wood and tin with very little light and having stairs that wound down from the third to the first floor ... Those spiral staircases became a right of passage.
Step by gradual step,
finger tips on handrail,
beam on countenance,
I countenance a beam,
day in urban green park,
with bosom shadows,
red blazing sunshine,
that watchful radiance,
mock orange hedge,
that aromatic flourish,
hint from my instinct,
watch each rung,
don’t slip or stumble,
with wistful wallow,
silken counsel I heed,
yet further episodes,
vivid dream intrusion,
a sea of blue asters,
butterfly kaleidoscope,
on nimble nectar quest,
but now I stand astride,
on landing at the top,
casting hazel eyed,
downward glance,
on another golden,
snapshot on earth
Sprightly walk on landing,
then I step down each rung,
with habitual due dispatch,
an enthusiastic heart beats,
mind awash with apt fervour,
whilst fixating on elation,
that weaves rose bud tints,
to dawn townscape purliue,
on a fair earthborn agenda,
whose brief a germ kernel,
mission sprouting benign,
seeds among the coterie,
red sunrise street dwellers,
who sense crimson aura,
a fond radiant saunterer,
that tonic touchstone,
oops .. watch the last step
I looked and saw the stairs, they looked like stairs that went to the sky.
The stairs were so beautiful that they went up into the clouds.
The stairs were clear, like glass, the sun shined though them, making them sparkle with light.
It was a sunny day, and the air was calm, I snapped a picture of the stairs that went to the sky.
I was so happy and thought to myself, the next life must be nice.
Lifting prayers to God, today and always.
Sleepless night
My heart running
After the sound of the ocean
The dry land in forms of waves
My mind going back
To the starting point
Days are short and nights are long
In my mind is the only place
You can find the truth
Hope is hopeless in the law of mass
I want to have hope but
Wherever the sky is you will find the sea
And the storms follows too
I have ice to see
Whenever it too hot it changes to water
So I keep them close until night
That's the only time I can open them
And the sun won't make me cry
Every night the moon is beautiful as rosés
The sky is my to explore and admire
But the moon is for the stairs
Only if I could by any means I will
Sunlight being too bright for me to focus on
No can see whenever am crying
Cause the rain washes out my tears
So my ices stays blue
The shapeless tears goes wherever the waves blow
My bed it's found deep into the ocean
And I sleep in water but my body never gets wet
I watch the sheer steps
Spiralling down to dreams
The rest towering above-
Just out of reach
But here the carpet is soft
Soft as a memory and I can see
Stars flicker between the banisters
Glimmering explosions punctured
By dropping eyelids
Aching limbs are left to rest
Comforted in how far they’ve come
And how far they’ve still
Got left to climb
A Creased Spine
A fall with back on stairs steps, a dire pain,
I ever up till now have to sustain;
X-Rays discerned spine crushed and nerves entwined
That hard it`d be to make it again shine,
Treating doctors revealed the words of truth:
Surgery, with metal hold, can pain soothe,
Yet, I shall be able to tread ahead,
But only with ache and limping, instead;
I`d prefer walk for short while, slow and weak,
Rather than limp when my days are quite bleak.
These stairs have wept a million tears
walking from parking lot to hospital room
Hearts travel them, to meet their worst fears
Through shadows and shame, past years
Blessed by the memoires who consume
These stairs have wept a million tears
With the music of a soul ringing in my ears
There’s more love and grace than gloom
Hearts travel them, to meet their worst fears
Families, friends, echoing their cheers
There’s more to this story than doom
These stairs have wept a million tears
The room grows silent when the dust clears
Soon the dream’s soundless spring will bloom
Hearts travel them, to meet their worst fears
In seas of wonder, my gentle volunteers
Remembering, He once rose from a tomb
These stairs have wept a million tears
Hearts travel them, to meet their worst fears
“The best way to treat obstacles is to use them as stepping stones.” Enid Blyton
**************************************************************
Stepping Stones to Success
In the deep depth of their dreams many souls
Aspire to reach atop a scenic hill
Whence they can eye the vista as a whole
And view the landscape of the distant fields;
But when wild woeful winds of stark failures
Rock their spirit, hurling them to the ground
It is ripe time to change their behaviour,
Time to move step by step to get around,
Time not to try to reach the sky at once
But to make every step a success tale
Time along the stairs not at once to bounce
But to learn to confront the stormy gales
And over woeful wild winds to prevail.
No, no, I tell you, no
Do not go down there,
Turn back from the door
Step away from the stair
I cannot tell you, I can't
The secrets and the lies,
Because... it's too... dreadful
When a pretty thing dies
Yes, she was a pretty thing
But, should you see her now,
All gone and gray and sunken
O, I could not tell you how ...
Don't look, please do not
Well, the door is open a bit,
Peer inside, dare if you must
Do so without my permit
But, o, the sun, she must set
And another day be done ...
Then up jumps the silver moon
Now ... isn't darkness fun!
it began with a creak,
low and hollow,
as if the staircase exhaled a secret
meant only for me.
at first, i told myself it was nothing—
just the old bones of the house shifting,
just the wind brushing the eaves.
but then came the whisper:
soft, deliberate,
threading through the night like cold fingers.
“come closer,” it said.
i stayed still.
the air thickened.
my heart tapped out a rhythm of warnings,
but my feet moved anyway,
dragged by some unseen thread.
the stairs groaned louder with every step,
their song ancient, mournful, alive.
at the bottom, the dark opened wide—
a void where the walls used to be.
and there, in the center,
a door i had never seen,
its edges slick with something
that shimmered even in shadow.
my hand trembled as it touched the handle,
a warmth pulsing beneath my palm.
the door opened,
and i saw—
no, felt—
a thousand eyes turn toward me.
i slammed it shut,
but the whispers remain.
they follow me now,
each night,
each dream,
calling me back to the stairs.
Here’s a staircase to nowhere
You can try to climb on top
Just to see the world from there
While ascending, you can drop
See the steps are wet and rotten
Loose, unsafe and slippery
What is up there you've forgotten?
What do you expect to see?
“There's no view, but an old station
Which was built of wood and stone
I assume there's renovation
Could be an industrial zone
I can't say why I must be there
No one is supposed to know
So I follow steps to nowhere
It’s the way for me to go.”
thinking with body
exercising the mind's eye
watching not to trip
what floor are we on
is the door going to open
someone has B.O.
Spirals downward ending in a platform
The end of the descent, the end of it all
A way to silence the eternal storm
Going out with one loud bang
A hush goes through the passageway
Not often one wanders through here
All alone as I ponder the many days
And which ones make it worth staying
Would I sleep restfully if I took the jump?
Or start everything all over again, and again
Looking over the edge, in my stomach a lump
Teetering over the rail, and back onto the floor
Maybe there will come a time
In the near, or distant future
Where I will make my final rhyme
As I stare down stairs for the last time
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