Between the Two

author’s note:

Johnny Cash once described himself as “a dove with claws”.


BETWEEN THE TWO

Disturbed by all
the violence I saw
I decided years ago
I should be a dove

but in response
a hawk shot up from my shadow
and shouted
Don’t try to deny me!

Fearing for the life of my dove
I pressed that ornery bird back down

and dared not ease my grip
because the demon
kept clawing and screaming--
demanding its freedom.

Meanwhile, my dove
suffered attack upon attack
from predator after predator.

Finally I realized the obvious:
in order to survive as a dove
I had to release that hawk.

My dove needs the eyes of a hawk
in order to protect itself from those
who live by preying upon doves

but my hawk needs
the heart of a dove
so it won’t see the world
merely in terms of survival.

Every day
I work to achieve
a balance between the two.

And though I often falter
I’m given solace by this thought:
my dilemma is not mine alone
but a problem borne
by the whole human race.

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© 2022, Michael R. Patton

What I Discovered at the Sleep Lab

author's note:

Peace: always a work-in-progress.


WHAT I DISCOVERED AT THE SLEEP LAB

In our studies at the sleep lab
the quietest test subjects
often report
such loud dreams.

For instance:
the muted woman
who told us how she'd fought
to keep herself intact
as she spun up inside
a crazy gray tornado:

she described her struggle
with an elation absent later
when she awoke from seeing
a white dove perched
on her sunny window sill.

I wanted to say to her:
ironic, isn't it?--you're
more excited by the war
than by the peace you've earned.

But no, I did not--
we're only allowed to make
some marks on a chart.

However
that evening I again sounded off
over drinks with my associates--
abandoning my science for the moment
to repeat with certainty this belief:

the dreams we record are proof
that all lives--
  even those so common
  even those so low
  even those so quiet
hold the highest goal.

© 2018, Michael R. Patton
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