Birds and Ladders

Does this ladder look funny to you?

How liberating it must be to be born

A free bird capable of flying to the top

They sing their hypnotic tunes

Assuring that the view is worth the trouble.

That the flowers grow in beauty

With every step that you climb.

But they’ve never had the need to climb.

Climbing this thousand-step ladder

Is no easy task

For someone like me.

For someone who is only human.

These hands can only

Handle so many splinters.

Still a long way to go before

Reaching what was promised.

This ladder never ends.