Another ladder

Ladder
made of steel or bamboo
singing thousand songs
of lost labor
in each step
failing stories

but you climbed up
we succumbed

but aren’t we now
your support

you are a bestseller book
your hurdles are sung
and read
because you made it
till the end

yet you see
the ladder is leaning
against something
a wall, or a tree
or tied up with a rope
firmly, tightly
your position at the top
swinging, dwindling

if ever you fall
we are prepared
to hold you in our arms
just as we were
when you were growing

we are survivors
we have survived, despite you
not because of you

but no pen has moved
for us
we remain your buyers.

What if the ladder
that is so deep in the mind
didn’t have to lean
what if it stood straight
secure, unafraid
untied, unabated
what if with a little help from you
the steps could sing a different song and woo
we could also go up as high
founded on the ground, the ladder too
wouldn't tilt, could upright touch the sky