My Stairs Are Screwed Up
by Franco Bertucci
Five steps then a landing,
then six more -
My first set of stairs
Tight, strong and right for the space.
And they work
Much better than the ladder we'd been using for a year.
I must confess
I'm attached to these steps.
But they are screwed up
says the inspector
and it does me no good to list their attributes
or demonstrate their strength
by jumping up and down on each tread.
The code is the code and an inch...
is a serious transgression.
Perhaps it would do me some good to cry and plead,
but I don't think of that in time.
Instead, I ask the inspector if he has any children of his own
and whether or not they are built to code.Poems and other things. ©2009 Franco Bertucci