The High-Pitched Voice

author’s note:

“Life is woof.”
         -- anonymous dog


THE HIGH-PITCHED VOICE

As I travel this convoluted path
I’m accompanied by a strong dog
that growls when it senses danger.

But if a voice inside then says “go forward”
I’ll force myself to ignore the dog
and accept unreasonable risk

while enduring people
who see my way as haphazard.

Yes, I worry
when the dog begins to whimper in fear
but
a dream once promised me
if I went where I needed to go
no matter where that might be
I’d eventually arrive at a garden.

When I awoke I felt a deep desire
to find that paradise.
But how I could know where I needed to go?
I would not go until I knew.

A voice I did not recognize
then said:
“stand and walk and do as instructed.”

That sudden turn spun my head.
Hooked by mystery and myth--
I decided to trust.
I stood up and began to walk.

Obviously
I haven’t yet found the garden
but now I can see
this twisted path
spirals up a mountain.

So today I still feel
a grand sense of purpose.

Nonetheless
sometimes when I’m led into trouble
I will join with the dog
and bark back at
that maddening high-pitched voice.

mythsteps · The High-Pitched Voice

Common Courage: poetry book
myth steps blog
dream steps blog
you tube channel
© 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
dream steps blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2023, Michael R. Patton

Enduring the Best

author's note:

I don’t have to do an ultra-marathon.

My endurance is tested every day.


ENDURING THE BEST

After you, I realized:

we must endure
not only the worst
among us, but also
the best.

Though they use different ways
both overwhelm us--
both challenge us
to rise above
our petty selves.

But while one dares us to fight
to find our light
the other tries to enlighten.

However
their brilliant light may stun

and after our eyes clear
we feel responsible for what we see:

I often try to ignore what I know
but feel guilty when I again sense
your old owl eyes watching me
from a place unseen--
near, yet faraway.

I'm pleased you check on me occasionally
but sometimes I’d appreciate
a few words of encouragement

especially when doubt
agitates my thought
almost to blindness.

You could reassure me with a whisper--
you could

tell me again
why I must not slack
in this work--
tell me again
how the little I do
actually helps us all a lot.

Tell me I must
keep on lifting
these heavy feet--
tell me I can find
the strength hidden within

but only if I keep lifting.

Please, tell me
I will eventually
be able to maintain firm hold
on the peace
that always slips
from my grip.

Tell me
all you once told me--
tell me again.

I wait
but as with previous requests
I’m answered by Complete Silence--
I don’t even feel your owl eyes watching.

I tell myself I shouldn’t
feel rejected--
after all
why should you remind me
when I haven't forgotten?

Besides that
a repeat would merely be
temporary comfort--
not a cure:

no one but me can give me courage.

As my moment of weakness passes
I feel ashamed once again
but also think:

maybe in some hoped-for future
I can use this moment
as a story lesson--
the type of story you once used
to help teach me.

Yes, later--
when I become
the sort of person
others will gladly endure.

Listening to Silence: poetry ebook
you tube channel

© 2022, Michael R. Patton

The Silent Voice

author’s note:

“I learn by going where I have to go.”
             -- Theodore Roethke


THE SILENT VOICE

Sometimes, when I quiet down
to ponder a decision...

I detect a voice

deep within...alien, it seems:

a voice without language
or even sound.
Nonetheless, it talks:

sometimes it tells me yes
sometimes it tells me no--
often giving me an answer
different from the one
I’d wished for.

But I've learned not to argue--
from experience I know
the walls, the falls, the knots
that result when I go against it.

However, to obey--to follow--
often doesn’t bring clear benefits--
often
I can’t see the purpose
for going here instead of there
and doing this instead of that
even years after the act.

To deal with my perplexity
I’ve decided to trust
that that little voice knows
the way to "home"--
knows what needs to unfold
through work and time--knows
where I need to go in order to
eventually get to
where I need
to eventually be.

A bold notion--I’m fearful
as I struggle to believe
and yet, I’m also encouraged:
I find hope in that belief.

dream steps blog
© 2021, Michael R. Patton

The String

author’s note:

Though I’m on a string, there is some slack.


THE STRING

I believe I’m on a string.

I say so because
many times I’ve been pulled
down roads
I didn’t wish to follow.

Yes, I often fought
but then the string yanked me--
dragged me along.
Unsettling to know
I wasn’t in control

until I realized:
this string could also be taking me
away from danger--
perhaps the edge of a cliff.

But what about those times
when the string seemed
to lead me into
adverse circumstance?

I decided to answer that question this way:
I need to learn what I need to learn.
Yes, the string operates according to plan--
a plan designed especially for me.

That idea gives me a little lift
when this path seems such a drag.
But before I inflate too much
I remind myself:
whatever holds my string
also steers
over seven billion other folk

following a plan
we can not see.

Soultime: a novel
© 2021, Michael R. Patton