Union
author’s note:
“My poetry isolated me
and joined me to everyone.”
-- Pablo Neruda (trans. William O’Daly)
SAME
Here I am
straining away--
trying to break open
feelings frozen--foraging
within myself
when I see--to my dismay--
10,000 people
marching in
the opposite way
to a store that sells
wispy fumes from dry ice--
nevertheless
we both study
the same course:
they have grief,
I have grief;
I build strength,
they build strength.
We both try to
understand what
we can not. Maybe
I fail more often, maybe
I should ease up.
But I am trying to learn
the visions of 10,000
perspectives--
from big-sky miners,
from deep-sea astronomers--
from garden moles (just like myself)--
among other questions I ask:
What do windmills discover
from the wind, from the grain?
This job of mine
is full-time
and until I develop
enough heart, my mind
will feel exhausted. So excuse me
if my bellowing
seems poor in oxygen--
I really would
like to give you
a fresh breath--
because we struggle
the same climb
toward peace.
We share the same grief.
© 2008, Michael R. Patton
dream steps
honest audio
Labels: commonality, emotion, exhaustion, feeling, grief, heart, isolation, peace, questions, strength, struggle
posted by Michael at 7:21 PM
2 Comments:
When you see '10,000 people marching the opposite way', why do you assume that you are all studying the same course, that your way is necessarily the same as theirs, that -- because you are alone -- you should try and understand/study all of the others?
I do not get "Grief" out of this poem, Michael. I get a searching, reaching out for the individual -- which, to me, is "Hope".
Did I misinterpret your words again? Now, if your poem is meant to focus on "Peace", then grief it is.
Nope, no misinterpretation. You are free to interpret as you please. In fact, I might understand the poem better through you. Sometimes, I'll write something and won't be that clear on what it means. Maybe just a line or two of a poem. But I'll leave in if its feels right. Maybe later, I'll understand it better. Maybe never. I think we're all studying the same course--just in different classes, different grade levels.
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