Tuesday, April 27, 2010

stairs



have you ever met
someone
who seems to be waiting?

waiting
for their purpose
to be revealed

you see
i think that
there are people
who rest against the outside of this world

like stairs
on an old building

they wait

hoping
that perhaps their purpose
will be
to offer a safe exit
to the ground
or a revealing
journey
to the vista above

each year
passing

defined
by a fresh coat of paint

32 comments:

alaine@éclectique said...

Very interesting thoughts, Steven. A little like a wallflower who always gets left and is too shy to jump in and have a go. The fresh coat of paint is really another layer of dust...

Jenny Stevning said...

Oh, to think of the time I have spent there! I have been spending a good year or so trying to chip off the old layers of paint.

Jeannette StG said...

So true, and sadly so. The upside is that these who are waiting do not have to remain in that position! Really like your poems btw!

Dave King said...

I'm really not sure whether it be the poetry, the philosophy or the ingenuity that gets me the most, but whatever it is, long may it keep coming. Congrats again!

Pauline said...

I don't feel sadness in this observation, rather I like the lines

"that perhaps their purpose
will be
to offer a safe exit
to the ground"

letting us know that not all beings must be doing; some of us are useful just being

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

You have spun a novel metaphor into a riveting poem steven. So true.

steven said...

alaine i like that next step you suggest here. dust! steven

steven said...

hey jenny i'm right there with you. there are times - sometimes long times where i've had a sense that waiting was the very best thing to do. to allow what was meant to become to arrive on its own terms. i don't regret those times though for they were necessary. but like most of life it only becomes apparent just how necessary each stage was in retrospect. steven

steven said...

jeanette thankyou so much! steven

steven said...

hi dave! tanks for your generous comment. steven

steven said...

pauline - absolutely! there are times when my work has been to help people along on their journeys - i'm a teacher so it goes with the work!!! steven

steven said...

hi bonnie - thankyou very much. steven

Elisabeth said...

The sight of such stairs sets my vertigo a ringing.

I doubt that I would ever alight them. I'm not big on heights. I like the well closed-in variety of stairs, the ones through which you cannot see the cracks nor detect how far you might fall.

Butternut Squash said...

"One person can make a difference, and everyone should try." - JFK

I know that I used to wait. Now, I just do, because I never did figure out what I was waiting for.

Beautiful thoughts. Thank you.

Barry said...

I love that line..."rest against the outside of this world"

I think I've done that at times, been removed, waiting for that fresh coat of paint.

Joanna said...

I am thankful that there are so many various approaches to life. Those who wait and watch have great purpose too. It's the wallowers that have me worried. Hopefully we'll all take up opportunities to grow in one way or another.

Linda Sue said...

Those stairs are doing a fne job of being what they need to be- helpful- going both ways and even pausing here and there- new paint is good- (a trip to the drugstore always makes me feel better though when i get the new paint home I rarely if at all wear it)...anyway, I love your stairs and their purpose- the desire to be located perhaps in the park or in a department store rather than where they are, alongside that solid boring building - theres the rub.

Reya Mellicker said...

Wow.

And ... yeah, I do know people like that.

Waiting is a purpose, too. Yes?

Tess Kincaid said...

Speaking of coats of paint, we refurbished an old house once in Kansas City that had 8 layers of wallpaper in the living room! Actually, a new coat of paint makes me feel like a million.

Fabulous pic, Steven, and thought provoking words.

Elizabeth said...

a most arresting thought
wonderful

steven said...

thankyou elizabeth!

steven said...

hello elisabeth - i have a problem with heights also. i often wonder about the metaphor that that represents and where it fits into my life and self-perception. steven

steven said...

oh willow that reminds me of a bathroom i redid when is a university student. layers and layers of wallpaper. then plaster - oh no!! steven

steven said...

hey butternut - one of the threads of thought that's emerged in the comments is around how it's alright to wait. i think it is. to wait and see what's meant to be. steven

steven said...

barry - me too!! waiting and waiting for someone to clean me up, point me in the right direction, or for the wind to change or something. steven

steven said...

joanna - yes. it's strange how you can be flying along and then grind to a halt and not be sure what stopped you and then what can start you up again. steven

steven said...

linda sue - i love your take on the stairs wanting to be somehwere nicer. mmm hmmm. steven

steven said...

reya - waiting is a purpose oh yes. it's the breathing in of life. steven

Golden West said...

I think the majority of us will never know our purpose. It could be as obscure as having influenced a stranger to have taken a different path that led to... I've always liked the movie "It's A Wonderful Life" where an angel shows Jimmy Stewart how life would have been different without him.

Aleks said...

I imagine you and Elisabeth as very tall so if I would come across you on the street I would wish to ask you
how was the weather up there at your heights,cause Im 1.65 with a perception of an giant in the past, :O)
Very nice journey on these stairs Steven,wonderful comments too!

Karen said...

love this

Okie said...

Great poem. Thanks for sharing. I love the imagery and the thoughts invoked.