Bird Watching

author's note:

Bird bird bird b-bird’s the word.
          -- from “Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen


BIRD WATCHING

Years ago when I was told
I should choose a totem animal
to express who I was
my aspiration said: “wings”.

Don’t we all wish for wings?

Since then
my desire hasn’t changed:
I still want to be the high-flying eagle.

Yes, I do soar sometimes
but in truth, I spend more time
on the ground
as a Bantam

and often show off
like the inflated Peacock

but even then
most people still see me as “Wren”.

Or perhaps as a Dodo--
unable to adapt
to these batty times.

I share their view sometimes
but I can also see
I’m the nimble sandpiper
racing down the beach--
finding delight in that seam
where two worlds meet.

Yes, I know
my Crow caw sounds raw
but I feel compelled
to shout alarm

and anyway
I do try to soften my tone
by adding the simple beauty
of the Meadowlark’s song.

Unfortunately, I often
I muffle that voice
by being an Ostrich.

However
I keep trying to take my head out

if only to discover
what other birds I might be.

But who among us
doesn’t possess
many species of bird?

mythsteps · Bird Watching

Dancing to Raven’s Song: a novel
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© 2023, Michael R. Patton

The Devil Frog

author’s note:

"My life needs editing."
               -- Mort Sahl

THE DEVIL FROG

One night
as I walked through the park
reflecting again on events of the past
I suddenly heard
a little raspy voice whisper:

“I can answer your wish--
 I’ll erase from your memory
 whatever you’d like to forget!”

Turning quickly, I spied
a tree frog perched on a low limb.
Without thinking, I replied:

“Frog, if you’re not playing a trick
 I’ll gladly accept!--
 as long as I can keep
 what I’ve learned
 from looking back.”

“What you’ve already learned
 you’ve earned,”
 the frog croaked back.

What a relief! I sighed.
I’ve tried so hard to understand.
Now I can finally rest--
I’ll no longer feel pressed
to resolve those old conflicted feelings.

With that thought, a bubble popped
and I began to run

fleeing from that devil frog--
afraid that I might succumb
to a temptation
that would deliver me
to a sweet Eden
if I gave up this bigger wish:

to one day finally graduate--
having achieved
the higher degree of peace I seek.

mythsteps · The Devil Frog

33 1/3 New Fables & Myths
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© 2023, Michael R. Patton

We Are The Sun and The Moon

author’s note:

I’ve never been cool.

But I have learned how to simmer.


WE ARE THE SUN AND THE MOON

As a child, The Sun God
played with burning coal
and in his gleeful carelessness
set his long hair ablaze.

Every day since that day
he’s run across the sky in ecstasy--
a gold flame illuminating his brain.

But though his light grows our crops
sometimes in his excitement
he allows his fire to rage too hot
and in the thrill of the moment
he’s able to ignore the pain in his skull

nor does he see
the swaths of black ash he then leaves
all across the Earth.

At the end of those over-heated days
he sinks down in exhaustion
and at rest in his ashes
he finally feels the wound in his head.

Then when his sister (The Moon)
sees him suffering
she feels her love again

and as her tears fall
to soothe his pain
her reservoir goes
from full to lean.
But then fills back up again

because she draws from a river
of endless goddess empathy.

The Sun God and The Moon God
show us who we are--
just as all gods do.
But unlike them
we have free will--
our tracks need not be ruts:

we can see our mistakes in their mad actions
then choose to change the way we roll.

Bear witness:
the story above helped me see
this obvious fact:
   though the fire in my mind
   sometimes gives light,
   I can burn myself (and others)
   when I rage too hot.

But if I can keep my blaze at even flame
I’ll no longer need
to bathe my wounded head at night.

Perhaps then I can use
the river of my empathy
to help soothe other heads
burned by their own rage.

mythsteps · We Are The Sun and The Moon

33 1/3 New Fables & Myths
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© 2023, Michael R. Patton

Miniature Golf Education

author’s note:

I have some perspective.

Unfortunately, I keep losing it.


MINIATURE GOLF EDUCATION

Though at first I didn’t want to play
I became hooked
before the end of the first round--
after I saw the metaphor.

Before
the game had always seemed so silly.

But I though I laughed
at my first failed attempt
to putt the ball past the windmill
I didn’t laugh
after my second try
nor after my third.

Then, at the fifth hole
I really started to burn
as I struggled to navigate
that ninety-degree turn.

Finally at the seventh
I began to curse the course
in frustration

then stopped when I suddenly saw
how I’d shrunk myself down.

So began an education.

In the many rounds played since that day
I’ve learned a number of lessons--
including this paradox:

Sometimes
in order to get past the alligator
you must roll right into
those snapping jaws.

mythsteps · Miniature Golf Education

My War for Peace: poetry book
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© 2023, Michael R. Patton

An Ark Builder Overcomes Reasonable Doubt with Reason

author’s note:

To all the Noahs out there.


AN ARK BUILDER OVERCOMES REASONABLE DOUBT WITH REASON

As a child when I heard
the story of Noah
I firmly decided:
you must obey higher guidance
even if people doubt you.

Ah, but my resolution slipped
when, years later
the voice of wisdom spoke to me
as I tried to quiet my heart
during a time of confusion.

Like the command Noah heard
the message I received
seemed to go against common sense.

Nonetheless, I might have believed--
if the voice had boomed down from the clouds.
But no
the answer rose softly
from a place deep within me

and so
governed by doubt
I went against the guidance

and soon realized
I should’ve heeded that advice.

And oh--
the advice didn’t stop--
because in curiosity, I strained to hear
the next message and the next
and the next.

Though in short time, I learned
I should obey what I heard
I still worried about
rejecting my reasonable doubt--
after all
I didn’t want to lose my reason--
reason is good!

Fortunately, I eventually
I developed a strategy:
when I begin to fret about
some major building instruction
I counter my doubt
with this reasonable argument:

maybe I am
making a grand mistake

but if I act with courage and love
that mistake will be
wonderfully grand.

mythsteps · An Ark Builder Overcomes Reasonable Doubt with Reason

Common Courage: poetry ebook
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