Life Is a Staircase
This poem is inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses.
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Life is a staircase.
Some people think we climb up. Some down.
Sometimes, staircases take me to the place I want to be.
Then they are my friend,
But sometimes, I’m forced to climb to a destination where I don’t want to go.
I’ve been told I start at a Golden Stair:
I can clearly see shadows of the railing under the sun.
Living life with ease and getting food without doing any work,
Just like nature is giving me food, but actually my mom is,
I want to be in this stage forever, because my life is never dull--
Touching the ground, looking up to the sky--I have everything.
This a perfect step, but I will have to go to the next stage of life,
Water dripping from my eyes because everything is going away from me.
I’m losing the best things I want to keep next to me.
My next steps are Silver:
I imagine the railing disappears and the gap increases.
I jump freely between spacious stairs,
And want to do as much as I can in these moments,
But they run away from me in the blink of an eye,
I try to stay happy, but something else comes up
I’m full of pressure, my head is exploding with different thoughts.
I don’t want to reach the last steps of Iron:
They shake a lot, are thin as a stick, and bumpy like a road.
This stage won’t give me support and empathy,
I will have to find a roof to live under and make my own food,
I hope I don’t hurt my loved ones and fight with them.
Will I have to struggle to fulfill my needs?
Will I use my friends to get what I want?
Will I be satisfied with the things I have?
There are no stairs beyond, so I will be stuck.
I’ll wish I could have that pure, golden soul again.
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Pahal Bhasin is a 13-year-old budding poet. She studies in the eighth grade at Excelsior American School in Gurugram, India. She enjoys reading and writing poems, acting, singing, dancing, drawing, photography, and community service, and loves nature. You can see more of her work at https://www.pahalbhasin.com/.