The Ladder of Life

Human values, what could they be?

An essence of people and what they believe.

Values that can be for better or for worse

So closely related and yet so diverse.

As we are born with values we are imbibed,

Sweet innocent babies stepping into life.

But as innocence comes and innocence goes,

We step into childhood, as we begin to grow.

Growth, not just physical, but mental as well,

Our values come with us, the substance within our shells.

The foundations of friendship are now underway,

Trust and kindness are not far away.

But as childhood comes and childhood goes,

We step into adolescence as we continue to grow.

At the lower reaches on the ladder of life,

We can still change our path, tell wrong from right.

Compassion forgiveness and honesty, the right path to choose

Anger greed and jealousy will lead you askew.

This rung on the ladder is highly unstable.

A time for moulding the rest of the ladder, on this depends,

It’s the wick of the candle, string of a fiddle,

The base for the ladder, it’s as clear as crystal.

But as time goes on, you must be on your toes,

We step into adulthood just as we grow.

It’s here after all our values come into play,.

The values we fostered have now bloomed into full force.

We’re on our own, only those closest to us have stayed,

We work so hard just to get paid.

Values may seem insignificant and greyed,

But trust me when I say they make or break.

Honor forgiveness, integrity- The icing on the cake

But as time flies and we grow old, we step into old age.

The ladder’s nearing its end, we’re almost at our goal, but the gates won’t open, the guard won’t let us through!

He demands a fee a prize of great value,

What could it be? Nothing, but our values.

We lay them out side by side,

Kindness, love, loyalty

Mercy, morality,

Obedience persistence and productivity.

The list goes on and on and on,

So the guard lets us through we’re free after all.

The ladder’s long gone; we’re at the next level.

Free to reap the fruits of our work, free to dawdle.

So you see when it comes down to the wire,

When this life is coming to an end,

There’s only one thing we require.

Our values, the only thing that we’re left with in the end,

No family no wealth not even a friend.

So keep in mind the next time you have power at your fingers,

Life comes and life goes but our values live on forever