A notorious beginner of enterprises and non-finisher, partly through lack of time, partly through lack of single-minded concentration, I still wonder how and why I managed to peg away at this thing year after year, often under real difficulties…
– J.R.R. Tolkien
YELLOW LADDER
by Elaine Equi
A yellow ladder
leans against
a redbrick wall
under a blue sky.
Beautiful.
But it doesn’t lead
to a window,
and it’s not tall enough
so someone could climb
over the wall.
Maybe a construction
worker left it there
temporarily.
But I don’t think
a builder put it there.
It must have been an artist.
Nevertheless,
don’t walk under it.