the shadow of the ladder (a parable of women’s lives)
seems fitting somehow
for a woman to be looking at the shadow of a ladder
to an unseen ceiling
in a space where everything around her is incomplete
contrived
or just out of reach…
trying to convince her she is just not quite clever enough
to figure out it’s all a set up
by hands more concerned with creating a world with the illusion of upward mobility
than offering the real route up.
(C) r. l. elke
I LOVE THIS!!! Precisely the message that seems to be screaming from the faintest of visible lines. What a powerful image – and the more so for your interpretation of it.
‘Shadow of a ladder to an unseen ceiling.’ YES!!!
Thank you so much for this.
Hmm. This is reality in poetry. I love it.
I love this piece! Its just to bad it’s still very much our reality. Great job.