TAKE THE STEPS TO SUCCESS

i climbed up steps...
3rd floor walk ups,
and more.
i lived on the 5th floor.
it was a tenement house...
no elevator.
no air conditioning.
it was a hot, fucking place.
but it was my fucking place.
the ceiling leaked, when it rained.
i climbed up ladders to patch the leaking ceiling.
up and down i went.
my whole life...
was one of climbing...
up and down.
down and up.
i climbed out of tunnels,
on steel ladders.
30 feet of climbing.
"Dont leggo, or you'll die."
once i climbed 156 feet up,
and 156 feet down, every day.
you see, i ran this tower crane.
it stood proudly, in the city of chicago.
i went up and down, every day for a year.
leggo, and you'll die.
somehow, i survived it all.
i climbed cliffs and hills.
i ran marathons.
my legs were good to me.
i was strong.
i climbed until i could climb no longer.
my legs gave out.
then came the surgeries.
the surgeon told me i never would walk...
without canes, ever again.
i told him, he didn't know me.
i worked my battered legs for three years.
i got stronger.
the pain was brutal, but i worked through it.
i made myself climb.
today, i walk without canes.
i walk without "too much" pain.
i always take the steps...
NOT the elevator.
i need to take the steps neccessary...
to stand upright, and be a man.
i won't go easy.
i'd rather go hard.
i do the steps...
to take the steps.
i learned to climb...
then i learned to fly.

"There will always be pain to things."...William Saroyan...