Elevating the Mole

author’s note:

“I can dig it, he can dig it, she can dig it,
  we can dig it, they can dig it, you can dig it.
  Oh, let’s dig it. Can you dig it, baby?”
      -- from “Grazing in the Grass”, by The Friends of Distinction


ELEVATING THE MOLE

I’m here, in part, to gather information
for a big knowledge bank—
the same metaphysical storehouse all humans use
when they need to deposit what they’ve gleaned.

Though I can’t imagine the ultimate purpose
I still like that idea
because I want to believe
I’m doing more here than just surviving.

But recently I’ve begun to wonder
about another life—
the life of the mole.
like me, he’s constantly gathering.

Yes, his eyes are small
but just think of all the information
he takes in with his tiny pink paws as he digs and crawls.
Information about soil, roots, grubs.
Information about life on this planet.

Because he wants to know more
he keeps on tunneling
and as he learns, he wonders:
Just how much more to this world can there be?
And so he will dig to the end.

Sounds like a great way to live
but I hate to imagine all that knowledge lost
when the body ceases to breathe.

Does the mole exist merely to exist?
Maybe we both contribute
to that big knowledge bank.

Scoff at that idea if you wish
but such thoughts
send my mind staring out the window
and when my eyes go out the window
I sense the truth
of what I like to believe:
All life has a higher purpose.

No, I can’t honestly say what that purpose is.
But I really like the storehouse concept—
I’m glad I’m saving that belief for posterity.

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© 2026, Michael R. Patton

Digging Up (or: Why I Persist)

author's note:

I can dig it, he can dig it
She can dig it, we can dig it
They can dig it, you can dig it
Oh, let's dig it
     -- from "Grazing in the Grass" by The Friends of Distinction


DIGGING UP (or: WHY I PERSIST)

In sad frustration
I finally gave up
trying to jump--
jump up to heaven:

I just kept coming back down.

However
the desire for more
still agitated me without mercy

so
to release the impulse
I began to dig down
into the stubborn ground

and persist to this day
though the plunge of the shovel
often pains me as the blade cuts into
old abscessed wounds.

Yes, light may burst from the break
but after the flash, I feel diminished
because I’ve seen my blindness again

yet I persist

though in the dimness I often wonder
if the gold I've discovered
is really only costume jewelry.

Yet I persist and why not?--

this mound of dirt I’m piling up
is a pyramid rising, is it not?

Well, maybe yes, but maybe not
in any case, I will persist--because
even if I never find the mother lode
at least, I've found purpose
through this work

and anyway, I believe

if we want a glorious life
we must suffer the pain of healing--
we must struggle to open our eyes
and match doubt with faith

and anyway

you can't fall down
when you're digging.

Everywhere, everywhere--
so many people jumping.

© 2019, Michael R. Patton
the truth of the dream: poetry ebook