Ladder to Paradise by Mimi Benson

I could climb a ladder to Paradise

Trouble is, I might miss a rung, lose my footing, fall to earth.

I might meet a sinister man

with a knife or a gun

who would block my way,

take my money, threaten my life.

Oh, there are other possibilities of danger, failure,

even a chance of rain

on that trip to Paradise

and I could number them,

stack them neatly together,

get them out from time to time

to remind myself

how perilous it is

how fraught with risk it is

to take a chance on life.

... inspired by a quotation from John Bach: “To the timid soul, nothing is possible.”