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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: Halfway Down

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It’s Poetry Friday and I am thinking, not for the first time, about stairs. This time, I’m celebrating that MY stairs  – the stairs that take me down to the beach – are reopen, after being closed for months and months because of storm damage. Although I could still walk on the beach by driving about ten minutes down the road and accessing the beach from a different point, I have missed my spot, and have never been more happy to climb a set of stairs than that first time last week.

Thinking about stairs almost always leads to me this childhood favourite, from A. A. Milne:

Halfway Down

Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn’t any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.
Halfway up the stairs
Isn’t up
And isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery,
It isn’t in the  town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:
“It isn’t really
Anywhere!
It’s somewhere else
Instead!”

(by A. A. Milne)

I had forgotten this, but when I searched for a link to A. A Milne this morning, I found Robin the Frog’s version of this poem, and had to share. I remember loving this as a child – although Robin sounds so sad, and I feel the poem is more joyful.

Looking at the picture of my stairs you might forgive me for stopping and sitting half way, but I don’t. Sometimes, though, on the way back up, I do stop and stand and take one last deep breath of that air and that view – there isn’t any other view quite like it.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is live now at Teacher Dance. Head over there to step your way through more poetry goodness.

Poetry Friday: Everywhere Stairs

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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.

sallymurphy.com.au