Staircase

There are stairs with airs and graces
In palaces and places
Where storeys rise, so elegant and grand.
There are winding flights and straight ones,
Plush-carpeted sedate ones
That seem as wide as any city strand.

There are backstairs meant for maids,
With no fancy balustrades,
In mansions for the rich and well-to-do.
There are spiral steps in castles
That cause intruders hassle;
I think they'd make one dizzy, wouldn't you?

There are stairs for everyday folk,
That creak and give away folk
Who try to tiptoe down them in the dark.
But the best stairs have a rail on,
A sturdy one to sail on:
Smooth banisters to slide down for a lark.

poem © Celia Warren 2011