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You said the ladder led to your heart,

so I climbed.

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One more rung, you said.

One more, and you’ll have me.

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So each rung became a thing I did for you:

the call I answered, the fault I forgave,

the night I stayed when I should have gone.

I built the ladder as I climbed it.

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I have been climbing a long time.

I do not see the top.

I have stopped looking for it.

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What I see now is the ground,

and you on it,

holding the ladder steady,

never once looking up.