I climbed rung by rung

Into the clouds

I watched the ground fade

The people on  the sidewalk become smaller and smaller  

And I take note that I am a drop of water in an ocean

Push this away

Keep climbing

The ground has disappeared

And I am unsure of how to be close to something so distant

Without falling, running, or diving headfirst towards it

As I climb my boundaries disappear

Nothing surrounds me but air and clouds

The light embracing me

I will climb farther this time

The sky filled my lungs

And I exhaled stars

Just as I reach a milestone

The blue moon dies

In the black star filled sky

A shooting star

Cracked and shattered

Comes directly towards me

And as I watch it pass

I let go

And fall with it

The rungs of my ladder fading further and further away

My paradise and I

Barreling towards the earth

It takes so much effort just to be myself

And hold my own

Everything coming back into view

The reality

I let go again

I see the people, no longer specks on the sidewalk

I am still a drop of water in an ocean

I hit the ground

As light  as a feather

Yet as heavy as a brick

I gaze back up at my ladder

Contemplating if I should ever climb again

Next time I will go further than ever before

I realize

Paradise is no promise

But we all fall

Just like the stars in the sky