Glorious Servants

author's note:

I don't believe a deep state exists, but I do believe in the existence of a deep self.


GLORIOUS SERVANTS

In the dream
I'm hanging in the sky like a kite
while far below a man digs down
into the earth--

his head bowed and shadowed
his bent back gleaming with sweat:

persistent sincere work has its glory.

Despite the height, I felt small
compared to him

and smaller still
as my vision broadened
to reveal a desert filled
with rows of little square pits--
each with a single occupant:
men and women obedient to the task--
what a cacophony of shovels and picks!

Maybe they mined...maybe for gold.

Such ferocity!--as if going for the core.

But maybe driven by mad delusion--
maybe only raising chimeras--
were they unwittingly digging their own graves?

Or maybe
they labored simply to build strength
--I did indeed see muscle

but also the wear of time and frustration.

I woke with no answers
only the certainty of what I felt:
the strain of their desire.

I recognized that strain as mine--

yes
like those other miners
I'm servant to a deep self
that demands I pursue work
of uncertain worth.

But though I dig alone, at least now I know
I'm not alone in this digging--

a solace made sweeter
when I remember
just how glorious we are.

© 2019, Michael R. Patton
the truth of the dream: poetry ebook