'three steps to heaven'
suggest the song's words
if heaven is the girl you want

seen as another option
'buying a stairway to heaven'
though the songwriters question
if this is really the way

old wisdom
tells a different story
a spiritual ladder
'we descend by exaltation
ascend by humility'
spiritual snakes and ladders
world's ways upside-down
with pride we take a slide
humble honesty makes the climb
not Uriah Heap's'so very 'umble'
but that which sees the truth
of myself, my place in the world
weaknesses and strengths
no lies, no deception
not me, nor others
a hard ladder to climb


First Thursday of Lent
6th March 2025