Mysterious Groundhog Life

author's mote:

Every day should be Groundhog Day.


MYSTERIOUS GROUNDHOG LIFE

When I saw the groundhog
waddling along--
grubbing just to survive--
I saw myself
and suddenly my dream
of being an eagle in high flight
felt like a lie:

a fantasy I use
to distract myself
from the plain truth
of my groundhog life

with its daily routine of mundane chores
made worse by incessant small frustrations.

But then
as I continued to watch
that humble creature work
I began to marvel
at the force in its frame--
does the fodder
of wildgrass and grubs
provide all that energy?--

maybe the body also draws
from some higher source.

Whatever the case may be
in that moment, I witnessed

the mystery of life
in a life quite common

and felt again
the mystery of my own life--
the mystery of our groundhog life.

My wonder then lifted me
high above this flat ground.

So maybe the sages were right
when they told us:
you must first embrace
this lowly earth
before you can realize
your dream of flight.

40 New Fables: ebook
myth steps blog © 2020, Michael R. Patton

The Diamond Kite

author’s note:

This hour I tell things in confidence,
I might not tell everybody but I will tell you.
            -- Walt Whitman


THE DIAMOND KITE

Yesterday, when I saw the kite
I saw myself

sleeping in a park clearing
--no tail, no string--
just thin orange paper breathing
in a flimsy wooden frame

until woken abruptly by a gust--
twirled straight up--
up above the maple trees

then held--suspended:
burning golden in the sun
for an operatic moment.

But soon the magic went "poof"
and the kite spiraled down
to land softly on the lawn--

the diamond eagle: a ground bird
once again.

I know how it feels

to be suddenly lifted
by some invisible hand--
held aloft

only to be set down
in the next breath.

A short vacation
yet long enough
for me to know the wonder
of being a diamond kite

and so, ever since
I've wanted that height
as a permanent residence

and have worked to build
string and tail.

But after so many years
and so much effort, I fear
my kite dream may only be
a pipe dream.

Nevertheless...

when I saw that kite aloft
I could not deny my desire
to lift myself up
to my diamond height.

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

Dreaming the Wounded Eagle

author’s note:

Up from the bottom
    of an old pond,
    that duckling
has seen something strange.
        -- Joso (trans. Beilenson/Behn)


DREAMING THE WOUNDED EAGLE

When the eagle plummeted from the sky

straight down into the lake

I felt so confused:
how could anything so powerful
crash--?--
how could something so grand
simply vanish--?

I awoke in such an astonished state--
I could not think

and so, began to feel
the desperate message
in my depths--

a message maybe a few
(or maybe many)
could also use
so I will translate
what the eagle silently told me:

now you've seen the wound--

so maybe now
you will go against
lower instinct
and push yourself down
and down
and down
into this shocking cold water--

will you finally save me?

Since that dream message
I've gone on countless dives
and though I can't yet claim
to have resurrected the eagle...

considering what I have raised
I can say:

I'm glad I disobeyed
the fear that warned me
to stay on dry land.