Returning to Earth

author’s note:

“I am a child in these hills.”
            -- Jackson Browne


RETURNING TO EARTH

When I see those clouds around the mountain peak
I feel inspired--I dream

of a life I can not live
until I’ve elevated myself
through slow steady climbing.
Up there: a life of peace.

But I dream too often--
I cloud my eyes
and as a result
sometimes trip
and hit
the ground--

sometimes hard.

Then as I lie there on my belly
putting head and body together
the dirt and stone and grass under me
begin to speak--silently saying:
welcome back.

Yes, I know them.
But I often forget to visit.
However, like a loving mother
they forgive the child for being foolish.
Home is any place
where I feel small and humble
yet secure.

I do need to dream.
However
I must keep at least one eye clear
and looking down
so I won’t trip and land hard--
down, so I’ll remember
to return softly to the earth
where I can feast and fortify
for the slow heavy climb.

Listening to Silence: poetry ebook
dream steps blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2022, Michael R. Patton

Wisdom Creek

WISDOM CREEK

All day long I’m a violin
dreaming a melodramatic melody.

But when I write poetry
I stop playing
and instead
whisper about how
I sat down in solitude
at the wisdom creek.

Truth is:
I often forget to visit
those healing waters
caught up, as I am
in my bars of music.

But strings in the head
eventually trip the feet

then I land down hard
on my back--back
at the wisdom creek.

But as I sit on its bank
in stunned silence
I may hear a deeper me

while watching my inflated violin
float away on the gentle waters.

But I’m cured only for the moment--
that overwrought music returns too soon:

apparently
the hungry boy in me
desires a grander life--
wants to feel heroic.

Maybe someday I’ll convince him
we can accomplish more
by feeling and following
our quiet strength.

you tube channel
© 2021, Michael R. Patton

Living in a Dream

author's note:

I think I hold the world's record for daydreaming.


LIVING IN A DREAM

In the dream
I bit into an apple

like the apple
I bit into
last Sunday
as I sat, daydreaming
beneath a droopy tree.

However
my dream apple
seemed much more intense
than my day apple--

maybe the dream came to wake me

with this message:

see what you miss
when you lazily ignore
just how incredible
your mundane life is.

I must not forget:
we live in a dream.

© 2018, Michael R. Patton
what I learned while alone: poetry ebook