Saguaro & Tumbleweed

author's note:

“I learn by going where I have to go.”
              -- Theodore Roethke


SAGUARO & TUMBLEWEED

When I feel as if I'm being
pushed around
by unseen forces beyond
my control or understanding
I remind myself:

the tumbleweed
despite its suffering
sows seeds as it bounces.

And when growth feels
so painfully tedious
I tell myself:

to grow an arm
the saguaro needs
seventy slow years

but then what a strong appendage!

And when I again feel the need
to help those who struggle as I do today
I comfort myself with a hope:

if in time, some notice
what sprouted
along my tumbling bumbling path

or notice
I added another arm
or two or three in this life

then maybe some of that some
will feel encouraged
as they grow and sow in the desert.

© 2019, Michael R. Patton
searching for my best beliefs: poetry ebook