Child in a Box

author’s note:

I can see myself everywhere.  If I’m willing to look.


CHILD IN A BOX

While finding my way in an unknown town
I spied a child
sitting in a big cardboard box
in the back of an abandoned lot.

I wanted to pity him—

his scratch of land seemed so desolate:

Cold sun rays glinted hard
off broken bottles.
A ragged wind stuck paper scraps
on the barbs of a barb-wire fence.

But despite that scene
the child wouldn't stop laughing.

At what? Perhaps he enjoyed watching
those two crows pick at a scatter of fries.

But when he spotted me, he continued to laugh.

What?  Was I such a joke?
Couldn’t he see how I grieved his plight?
How could I empathize
with him cackling in the wind that way?

With that last question
I suddenly realized
I held this secret wish:

I wanted to see a sad sight
so I could release my sad sighs.
I felt sorry for him, yes
but I also felt sorry for myself.

I was a child abandoned in an empty lot.

But that barbed broken-bottle lot
really wasn’t so empty, was it?
And who had abandoned my child
if not me?

I then began to laugh along with that child—

at the fool who would not let himself play
in this wild sunny world of abundance.

mythsteps · Child In A Box

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Where is the Art in War?

author’s note:

Art has improved my vision.


WHERE IS THE ART IN WAR?

I challenge that sage
who coined the phrase:
"The Art of War".

Yes
the field general and the artist
both need courage and skill

but the general kills
whereas the artist gives life back to life.

The general’s well-designed battle plan
will deteriorate into chaos in the field.

On the other hand, the artist
can reveal the design
in what appears to be chaos.

Art adds.  War subtracts.
Art is about fusion.  War: fission.
Art joins--war divides.

Though we can’t always avoid war
we need not fight all the time

but at all times
we need to be open to art.

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© 2022, Michael R. Patton

Making Peace Between My Plates

author’s note:

What can I do in a world of war?

I can work to create peace between my own warring factions.


MAKING PEACE BETWEEN MY PLATES

Seeing the need
to know myself better
I tuned-in to my depths

and ever so slowly began to feel
my deep tectonic plates--
how those forces bulled and butted
and ground together
in continual conflict.

Yes, feeling my disturbance disturbs me
but being aware has helped me
find better ways
to ease my inner tensions.

So these days
I usually manage to avoid
major quakes.

However

I still experience so many tremors.

Those shakes shake me up

but as a result
when I settle back down, I become
even more determined
in this heroic task:
to create harmony
among my opposing plates.

Yes, the peace I achieve will be relative

but perhaps that’s the best we can expect
from a member of such a flawed species.

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