This Ladder That We Climb

This ladder that we climb reaches through stars, though fixed on sod

Bound by the grip of time we climb the height of it to God

And all the recollections that we weave then leave behind

Are but the dust of living in life’s taking-giving grind

This ladder that we climb through hope and heartache’s wondering

Seems horizontal in its vertical-cast hungering

Its forward, upward rise and falling valley-deep incline

Tests mortal boast where time plays host to more than clock-design

This ladder that we climb through bluebell chime and russet sheaf

Is more than mime of tick-tock rhyme where faith and unbelief

Battle within the human-breast like storms upon a sea

Because we know we cannot barter with eternity

Then we should give more earnest heed to all that we have heard

This bleeding angst of want and need cannot be undeterred

But eases us upward toward the pinnacle of time

Where God waits at the zenith of this ladder that we climb

© Janet Martin