Obedient Scrub

author’s note:

I now realize: I may have written a Taoist poem.


OBEDIENT SCRUB

Though I hammered
and rammed
the wall did not crack
but instead, seemed to grow
even more resistant.

So
I decided to use
a different tactic:

I began to scrub—
hoping to erode
that obstruction.

But after decades of persistent effort
I realized a painful fact:

though I’d made significant progress
at this rate, I could work ‘til death
and that defense would still seem
too much a part of me.

Nonetheless
I’ve continued this slow attrition

because

I feel better when I obey
the desire of my heart—
the desire

to wear down that block wall.

© 2019, Michael R. Patton
my war for peace: poetry ebook