Twenty Steps to Heaven

Twenty steps to heaven,

From first floor to basement door,

Of my building,

Into the cement stairwell,

Which nobody ever uses,

They all go through the front door,

But I, in my secret catacomb,

Alone in my day,

I can see people walking to their cars,

But they don’t see me,

I enjoy a cigarette here,

Untethered, unfettered,

I hear rain high above on the canvas awning,

Peaceful,

A few snowflakes make it through a couple of tears,

Brown leaves fly in settling in the corners,

Of the cement steps,

In the summer I share my space,

With a couple of wasps building-

Their adobe huts on the warm brick wall,

And that’s all,

They must like it too,

Nobody ever comes here to bother us.

In five minutes I ascend to the real world,

Business, commerce, people,

But I’ll be back,

I’ll be back.


Peter Lowell Paulson

March 23, 2011