twelve steps

To a better career, to the perfect relationship

To defeat your negative behaviour

To be the best version of yourself

Each step promises more reward

But at the top, there is nothing else

You are still you

 

What have you trodden upon beneath

Those seductive and glittering steps?

Joys and activities to nourish your spirit

Going to the sea, reading, music and dancing

Being your own safe point in a storm

Escaping into nature, sex, springtime walks

The night sky, exploring the mysterious

The unknown, and the well within

 

The staircase is old and rickety

For generations we have been told to climb.

Then we will be happy and successful.

But this is an endless process

There will always be another stair to climb

We do not heal our wounds this way

 

Beneath the stairs, the joys of life

Not goals or achievements

But simply being alive, in our bodies, through our senses

This is where we live

 

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