Spinning Top

author's note:

If we’re all spinning, every single one of us is constantly experiencing a revolution.


SPINNING TOP

As the wise ones
and physicists tell us:
we’re all spinning tops.

A lovely motion, perhaps
but one stormy thought
can wobble me:
so much energy spent
trying to keep myself upright.

Sometimes, I wonder if I should just...

let myself fall
and enjoy the roll.

But as a child I was told:
stay strong!

So to concede to gravity now
would seem a shameful failure
especially since no one but me
controls what happens within me.

Nonetheless, I continually
tilt too far this way or that.
But maybe I enjoy the drama:
as he falters, this dancer
believes he’ll be a hero
if he strives ever harder
to stay on his toes.

Even so, I might still succumb
to doubt and fatigue
if I didn’t experience
those rare splendid moments
of pure human grace.

beautiful frog
Dancing to Raven’s Song: novel
© 2021, Michael R. Patton