Thursday, February 8, 2018

Bits of Inspiration ~ Stairs

Stairs can be my victory or my defeat. The climb depends on what my legs wish to do that day. Even with my knee rebellion at the thought of tackling steps I have a fascination with stairways. They are necessity, art, architecture, and for me, a short breath intake of regal. When I manage to reach to top of a staircase and look down, I feel a gasping moment of accomplishment, (short lived, but oh so good for my ego).

Greyscale Photo of Concrete Staircase

Stairway to Heaven
by Led Zeppelin

There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Oh oh oh oh and she's buying a stairway to heaven
There's a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook
There's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiving

(The link in the title will take you to the complete lyrics for the song)

(As a side note, the story of how the song Stairway to Heaven was written is very interesting. You can listen to it here.)

Black Circular Staircase

"The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs." Vance Havner

2 Book on Brown Wooden Stair

"You shall find out how salt is the taste of another man's bread, and how hard is the way up and down another man's stairs." Dante Alighieri

Girl in White Dress Standing in Front of Railings

So, the challenge for today is to write about stairways. You can take inspiration from Zeppelin, the quotes and photos I shared, experience, etc. Make sure it is a new poem for this challenge, post it on Mr. Linky, and please visit your fellow poets to read where their steps led them.


22 comments:

Kim M. Russell said...

This is a great prompt, Susie, which sparked strong memories from my childhood, when I lived with my grandmother. She always kept every door in the house closed, which meant the top of the stairs was dark, except for a faint glimmer from a skylight. My imagination ran riot!

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Loved the prompt, Susie!💞 I was quite surprised where it led my muse. Happy Thursday, everybody!🍹

Anonymous said...

Great prompt. I enjoyed writing for this.

Fireblossom said...

I will very definitely be doing this! Thx for a fantastic writing challenge, Susie!!!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Very cool prompt! Will give it a whirl. Thanks, Susie.

Susie Clevenger said...

@Kim ... Glad it sparked memories. My grandmother lived in a two story house that was old. She kept all the doors to the top floor closed because they were empty. It was always a creepy climb up there.

@Sanaa...Happy it inspired!

@paul ... Thanks!

@Fireblossom ... Thanks! Looking forward to reading it! My muse is taking me on a weird journey. I find it hardest two write when it is for my own prompt!

@Sherry ... Thank you!

Susie Clevenger said...

I think I sipped from Alice's bottle for this one. Just never know where my muse will go.

grapeling said...

Howdy, Susie. Thanks for the prompt.

~ M

Gillena Cox said...

Luv the prompt. Have a good Thursday everyone

much love...

brudberg said...

Today I decided to write a very very short poem... just thought it would be fun being brief..

Priscilla King said...

I was actually thinking about John Climacus and his "stairway/ladder to Heaven" this morning. (Before breakfast, yes...while writing a book review.) But the thoughts were more argumentative than poetic. Oh well, the review will pop up soon.

tonispencer said...

I love the prompt! It took me back to Philadelphia years ago. How I loved living there.

Fireblossom said...

Oftentimes, I know if something I've just written is good or isn't, but this one I can't tell. You'll have to let me know.

Susie Clevenger said...

@grapeling... Hello, good to see you!

@Gillena... Thank you

@bjorn... There's often a whole lot of substance in brief. :)

@Priscilla ... It is certainly strange sometimes how thoughts align.

@Toni ... Glad it took you to some good memories

@Fireblossom ... You rocked it!

Jim said...

This a nice compilation, Susie. I always felt for the lady buying her way. I suppose that since right after reading yours I keyed mine out it runs a little the same. Not plagiarism intendrd though.
..

purplepeninportland.com said...

Love the prompt, and the fact that you used my favorite song of all time!

Susie Clevenger said...

@Jim ... Thank you... Heaven has many stories.

@Sara ... Thanks so much

Debi Swim said...

Susie, the first post was a mistake. Sorry. If you can delete it please do. The second (19) is the correct post.

Debi Swim said...

Susie, the first post was a mistake, feel free to delete it. The second (19) is the correct post for this prompt. Sorry

WildChild47 said...

arriving the day after .... but here none the less ;)

fascinating prompt Susie - thank you

Susie Clevenger said...

@Debi ... That's ok. I left the link...Great poem

@WildChild ... Thank you

Unknown said...

I did a new stairs senryu which I linked in Mr. Linkys but this also reminded me of an older one about a Santa Fe staircase I saw on vacation. I just thought I'd share that one down here because it's a cool staircase.
http://cactushaiku.com/daily-haiku-senryu-exceptional/
MNL (Cactus Haiku)