Poetry of Issue #7        Page 56

For Donald Lev, With Thanks

I, too, have attempted
an ascent to heaven
on a ladder that didn’t collapse
or fail to reach far enough

Yet it isn’t the lack of existence,
my personal ending,
or shoe size, gastronomical predilections
or even “The Great Poem”
not broadcast over “Poetry Central”
I simply didn’t know how to insert
the pronged halogen bulb
and it broke off in the socket

So I gave up and am cautious now
I type in the dark while you are full lit
in your house with old wiring
and a heating system that needs repair,
you who see various sides to an issue
and when you can’t reach a bulb and turn it
blame it on your limited powers
and not on technology,
or the infinite heights
that seldom escape your vision

  Roberta Gould