A Poem a Week - Halfway Down the Stairs : A.A Milne

Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair where I sit: 

There isn't any other stair quite like it. 

I'm not at the bottom, 

I'm not at the top: 

So this is the stair where I always stop.

Halfway up the stairs 

Isn't up, and isn't down. 

It isn't in the nursery, it isn't in the town: 

And all sorts of funny thoughts 

Run round my head: 

"It isn't really anywhere! It's somewhere else instead!"

A A Milne

In honour of writing my last ever philosophy essays I decided to return to one of my favourite pieces of childhood philosophy. This poem by AA Milne has always been around, maybe as a consequence of the fact that have always ended up sitting on stairs reading, because my room used to be at the top of the house and I would get distracted before I got there. I love the simple logic, the trippy nursery-rhyme-type rhythm, and the sense of fun. By next week I will have finished essays for ever and so will be able to get down and start actually exploring the poems, and maybe start posting some books reviews.