The Lovers' Stone Quarry

author's note:

Why do old abandoned places have such mystery?

Maybe the mystery was always there.  We just didn’t feel it until all went quiet.


THE LOVERS' STONE QUARRY

After the machines
abandoned this quarry
the gray rains of winter
filled the granite pit
with cloudy-white water.

Now, near twilight
on an August day
a solitary couple
sneaks down the hill
to swim--to splash--to yell
in the sun’s splintered rays.

But in time the two
arrive at their quiet
and shyly open
to a deep embrace

then as cool wet skin
meets cool wet skin
both discover warmth
in the anxious heart of the other.

Discretion prohibits me
from finishing this scene
but before I endv I want to share a question:

if the massive complex
we humans have created
eventually collapses
under all its heady weight
what might life be like in the ruins?

My hope is:

those who remain
will find a new way of life
in the jagged pit we blasted.

Soultime: a novel
© 2021, Michael R. Patton

How Humans Learned to Give Thanks

author's note:

Though alone this year, I'm determined to have a happy Thanksgiving.  May you have a happy Thanksgiving too.


HOW HUMANS LEARNED TO GIVE THANKS

Because the first human
was as he was
he ordered the sky
and the oceans
and the rich soil
to give of themselves
so he could live

and they said:

"We are quite mighty
  while he is quite weak
  so we should sacrifice
  to provide what he needs.”

And because the man was as he was
he told the plants and trees
to give of themselves--
he told the lakes and rivers
he told the many creatures

and they said:

“We are quite strong
  and he is quite weak
  so we should sacrifice
  to provide what he needs.”

Unfortunately
because the man was as he was
he just kept taking
without healing the wounds he’d given
to the sky, to the soil, to the many waters--
to the flora, to the fauna

and so that life collapsed from its wounds
and as a result, the man also collapsed.

But then
the man could no longer wound
so the Earth was able
to heal even its worst hurts.

And so
after an agony lasting forty nights
the life of the Earth rose again

which had the effect
of lifting that man back to his feet.

Fortunately
being down on the ground
had changed his point-of-view--
now he sang a different tune:

"Because I am quite small,
  because I am quite weak
  the life of this Earth
  sacrifices for my sake.

"But as I take
  I must give back--
  otherwise

  I am a dead man!”

Since then we humans
are not as we once were--
now, we thank the Earth
for gifts given
and heal that which we wound.

This myth...a story from our future.

© 2019, Michael R. Patton
40 New Fables: ebook