Saint John Climacus Poem by Linda Hepner

Saint John Climacus

Rating: 5.0


Saint John Climacus climbs his thirty steps,
his ladder narrow, steep and perilous,
the flimsy base upon his mortal acts
counterintuitive, ignoring facts,
but he is first to reach his savior’s house,
his white robed bishop close upon his steps.

Mere mortal men and monks climb up behind,
praying and pushing, tumbling to the void,
as shadows prance and pull and poke their prey,
shooting like demon cupids on the way,
since flimsy acts and sometime hopes destroyed
a bliss eternal for such flawed mankind.

The angels root for them and Christ receives
the precious few who reach the golden summit
and down below with zeal the living cheer
them on with palms and psalms but every spear
from evil inclinations makes them plummet -
which teaches that their Golden Mean deceives.

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