Were I to choose
a ten-foot ladder
to scale
a fifty-foot wall,
I would never reach
the top.
Though I might curse
the ladder
for its inadequacy,
is the misunderstanding
the ladder’s
or my own?
I have asked it
to do what it cannot,
as it was not built
to reach such heights.
In the same way,
we must not ask
of people
what they cannot
give us; mainly
purpose,
meaning,
and value.
When we do so,
we heap burdens
on their shoulders
which cannot be borne,
weights which will either
crush the carrier
or be tossed aside
in the interest
of self-preservation,
as we have left them
no other choice.
