Lesson from a Dead Bird

author’s note:

As they say in the movies: “based on a true story”.


LESSON FROM A DEAD BIRD

Once as a boy…

while walking down a rural road
in morning sunlight
I spied a dead bird in the dirt--
its broken neck
curled back against one wing.

Then with the type of disrespect
common to children who feel powerless
I put my foot on its bloated chest.

And holy wow!--as I lifted my boot
that bird jumped up
and with a fury of fluttering
flew away.

An incredible resurrection--a story
I use, years later, to help myself cope.

The bird tells me:

when we’re dead asleep
often only a lightning bolt
from a shadow tyrant
can pump the air
back into our chest.

Many times, many times
I’ve stepped on myself
with my own shadow

but I’m still waking up.

© 2020, Michael R. Patton
40 New Fables: ebook

Untying My Lines

author’s note:

What a feat of endurance our life is.


UNTYING MY LINES

Alexander the Great
solved the problem of the Gordian knot
with one stroke of his sword
but

I’ve learned from experience
I can’t sever these bindings
with such suddenness--
no
I must talk to my knots

with extreme patience--
respectfully coaxing
all those fists open--
no use shouting
hurry up!

The fingers will only uncoil slowly.

I suppose
we need time to adjust
to the release of energy
held in their shadow.

But though I know I’ve no choice
I still feel frustrated

and so, try to comfort myself
with this knowledge:
a rope untied in that tedious way
becomes a strong line going out--
out into the world.

© 2020, Michael R. Patton
Poet, Heal Thyself: poetry ebook

Star Inside

author's note:

An appropriate poem for a time when a comet draws our eyes to the sky.


STAR INSIDE

The ancients believed
the gods lived above
in a world of ideal form:

our life below
was merely a pale shadow
compared to their gold.

I think I know why
they held that idea:
maybe like me, those folk often felt
shadowy pale

but brightened
whenever they stopped to wonder
at the mystery of the stars
of a world so distant.

At such still moments
I can feel the gold of this life.

A richness I also know
sometimes when I’m quiet
and descend into myself
descend until I experience
a moment of sparkling perfection

which I can not hold.
Nonetheless, when I rise
I’ll still feel the afterglow.

So whenever my life seems
pathetically pale
I reach down again--reach
until I find the star inside.

My plan is:
to raise that star
slowly...slowly...slowly
until finally the feeling
never completely leaves me.

Then, no matter what falls
I won’t forget our basic truth:

within this pale shadow
lives an ideal world
of sacred perfection

and though we often feel poor
we’re always much more
than we appear to be.

With that constant awareness
how could I ever lose my love?

© 2020, Michael R. Patton
Poet, Heal Thyself: poetry ebook