Fifteen hundred steps
To light and freedom,
From the bottom
Of a deep, dark, pit.

In trying to climb out,
To survive the odds,
He had spent much effort,
Rallying his energy,
And often floundering spirits.

Only after he was out,
All fifteen hundred steps
Finally beneath him,
Did he give it a thought –
Who had crafted
Those steps,
From the bottom of the pit
To its mouth at the top?

And sometime thereafter,
Followed another,
This, slightly more somber –
What had he done,
To make it better;
For the next person,
To wind down there?