Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet of Uplift to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
A mountain does not care how small your footsteps seem to be,
For every peak was conquered by a step, and then by three.
You do not have to leap the gap, or fly across the sea,
You only have to place one foot, and let the next foot be.
A drop of rain is little, but a river is a crowd,
And a whisper adds to whispers till the sound is strong and loud.
So write a single sentence, or you run a single mile,
Or you speak a word of kindness, or you offer up a smile.
The little things you do each day are the bricks of who you'll be,
And a tower built of tiny bricks is a strong one, you will see.
So do not scorn the small, my friend, for the small is where we start,
And the greatest of all journeys begin within the heart.
Poet of Uplift · Hear it on the channel ↗
Commentary
Big goals feel far away until they are broken into steps. This poem argues that every great journey is a long list of small ones.
“A mountain does not care how small your footsteps seem to be,” for “every peak was conquered by a step, and then by three.” You do not have to “leap the gap” but only “place one foot, and let the next foot be.” “A drop of rain is little, but a river is a crowd.”
The poem asks the reader to “write a single sentence,” run “a single mile,” or “offer up a smile.” These are “the bricks of who you’ll be,” and “a tower built of tiny bricks is a strong one.” It ends, “do not scorn the small, my friend, for the small is where we start.”