It’s Poetry Friday, and I’ve been thinking about stairs. Why? Because I seem to keep stopping at the bottom of them of late. My recent treks have seen me pondering (and climbing) these stairs
on Rottnest Island, a place less known for its stairs than for its gorgeous beaches and, of course, quokkas. But the stairs form part of its military history and thus I climbed them as part of a tour.
Closer to home, I often climb these stairs
when I leave my beach – and often pause to snap them, even though I know it isn’t the first time, and won’t be the last. They are my favourite stairs because of their location, but I must confess to preferring going down than going up.
I also, recently, came across these stairs on my morning walk closer near the Swan River in Perth. From the bottom I called them rainbow stairs, but wondered whether someone had just spilled paint down them.
From the top, however, I could see some deliberateness, including the yellow heart at the bottom.
Lastly, at my dayjob I work on the fourth floor, and must confess that I take the lift far too often, but this week have challenged myself to climb the stairs at least once per day. It’s hard work, but I’m hoping it will get easier. Maybe when I love the stairs more there will be a photo, but for now, you’ll just have to take my word.
So, with all these stairs featuring in my thoughts, it seemed logical to attempt a poem about them. Here it is.
Everywhere Stairs
Stairs
They’re everywhere
Beckoning me up
Calling me down
Obstacle
Challenge
Or invitation
Depending on mood
Or location.
I do like stairs
But sometimes
When I’m halfway up
I wish I’d stayed down
Or just taken the lift.
(Poem copyright Sally Murphy, 2020)
Rebecca at Sloth Reads is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday roundup. So step over there, or step right up, and check out what other poetry goodness there is to see this week.
Great photos, Sally! You have me wondering about my favorite stairs…I love the reveal of that heart from the “looking down” perspective photo of the “rainbow stairs”. It’s so interesting to think you would have missed it entirely if you’d only headed up and never looked back. There’s some food for thought!
I like the question of whether the paint was spilled or deliberate…it’s all the point-of-view, isn’t it?
I totally get what you’re saying about being halfway up and going, was this a good decision?! Sometimes it’s better to start the hard stuff without knowing how hard it will be!
Fun poem (and enjoyed all your pics!). Stairs have lots of symbolic value, perfect for poetry. Unlike you, I’d rather climb upstairs than down . . .
I have to run up the stairs to make it at all, except maybe at my house. Here’s a fun fact: when I went from teaching K on the first floor to 2nd on the 2nd floor, I added many daily ups and downs of the school stairs to my routine, and LOST about 4000 steps per day. Now that I am back down on the ground floor teaching PreK, there are no stairs in sight but I hit 10,000 steps most days by 4pm. I wonder which is better overall for health?
I appreciate your succinct little poem, Sally. What about arranging it in stairstep formation?
I love this, Sally. It has me thinking about where stairs lead us. Sometimes we know, and other times we don’t. Always an adventure, though. My favorite set of stairs are the 300+ that lead to the top of Salisbury Cathedral in the UK. I just climbed them in July, and I’ll never forget the journey or the view. Cheers!
Ha! Oh, yes….I take the lift far too often too. Great poem with a funny last line. I like how you inadvertently typed the word “pain” for paint above….stairs sometimes cause a bit of pain!
Oops. A typo! I’m going to fix it, but yes a funny slip!
I mentioned once in PT that I longed for a single level house, but he said stairs were good for me. I like these lines:
“Obstacle
Challenge
Or invitation
Depending on mood
Or location.”
So I’ll keep accepting the challenge and being grateful I can summit the stairs.
Yes they are good for us. But sometimes…
I live in a split level house, so stairs challenge me daily. I wonder how much more I would weigh if I didn’t have these stairs. Hmmm. Thanks for this poem!
Don’t think of them as stairs, think of them as your home gym 🙂
Your poem was fun and the rhyme was just right. Obstacle/challenge/or invitation/depending on mood/or location. I like stairs and always try to take them as small daily minute workouts. They’re good for writers who sit a lot.
Yes, I agree – sitting is an occupational hazard, so stairs are a good workout.
I go up & down our stairs at the bookstore many times a day & your poem made me laugh because that’s about it for stairs. It’s fairly flat here so hiking “up” in the mountains is the best “up” & “down” I can do. Now you’ll have me looking. There are some pretty ones at a near museum! Happy climbing, Sally!
Thanks Linda. I grew up in a country hotel, with an amazing staircase with polished wooden balustrade. I spent a lot of time playing on those stairs. Maybe that’s why I’m attracted to them, though it only just now occurred to me.
Love your tribute to stairs, Sally. Something so mundane, but so needed to get us where we need/want to be.
Thanks Kimberley. I walked up the beach stairs again this morning and was grateful that that meant I’d just spent time on my beach.