Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet of Uplift to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
I tripped upon a stone today, and I fell upon my knees,
And the scrape was hot and stinging, and I wished I were at ease.
But as I lay there thinking, with the gravel on my hands,
I saw the stone was flat on top, like a step on which to stand.
So I stood upon the very thing that tripped me in the road,
And I saw a little further, and I lightened up my load.
The obstacles we curse at are the things that make us tall,
For a stumbling block that's stood on is a staircase after all.
So do not fear the stone, my friend, nor curse the road ahead,
For each stumble is a lesson, and each lesson helps you tread.
Get up, and brush your knees, and take a breath, and start once more,
For the stones you meet are stairways to a higher, brighter shore.
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Commentary
A fall on the road can be more than an injury. This poem turns a stumble into a step, and a stone into a staircase.
The speaker “tripped upon a stone today” and fell “upon my knees.” While lying there “with the gravel on my hands,” the speaker sees “the stone was flat on top, like a step on which to stand.” The speaker stands “upon the very thing that tripped me in the road” and sees “a little further.”
The lesson is that “the obstacles we curse at are the things that make us tall,” for “a stumbling block that’s stood on is a staircase after all.” The poem closes: “Get up, and brush your knees, and take a breath, and start once more.”