What I Tell Myself while Dangling in the Dark

author’s note:

Hang in there.


WHAT I TELL MYSELF WHILE DANGLING IN THE DARK

Moonlight whitens a spider
bobbing up, then down
amid the shadow leaves.

The sight elicits a visceral response—
I identify with that daredevil:
we’re both dangling in the dark—
hanging in mid-air.

However
the metaphor isn’t perfect:
the spider knows his own string well
unlike me—
I don’t know what holds me.
So I worry

then worry about the amount I worry:
doubt could pull me down
into a night without moonlight.

So every day I try to lift myself
with these thoughts:

“I am but a puppet
   moved by higher forces.
   And those gods will not let me fall.
   Because I serve them.

“Yes, they keep me suspended in suspense
   but only because I must learn to trust.

“Yes, it’s good for me to be here:
   this instability forces me
   to find the strength needed
   to deal with our uncertainty.”

To be honest
these ideas don’t ease my anxiety much
and yet
I repeat them often
because
the story they tell
gives this precarious life meaning
and without that significance
I might just say:
I have had enough.
I give up.

mythsteps · What I Tell Myself while Dangling in the Dark

Searching for my best beliefs: poetry book
myth steps blog
dream steps blog
you tube channel
© 2024, Michael R. Patton

Revival

author’s note:

Communing with nature.


REVIVAL

A half moon lows
over this forest

as a dripping tree
hangs tiny pearls
on a web above me.

The spider with its spindly legs
plays those strings
like an angelic harpist
or maybe an old bluesman

while I wait...I wait
--mouth open and hoping

until finally
a starbright drop
of holy water
shakes loose, falls down--
down onto my tongue.

I savor this sacred gift
an infinite moment.
Then swallow down
eyes closed--
feeling the blessing
descend.

Once again, I’ve revived
a life I must sacrifice
to work in day’s dry light.

mythsteps · Revival

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

The Pleasure of Mystery on Halloween

author's note:

There's bad scary and then there's good scary.

Have a good scary Halloween!


THE PLEASURE OF MYSTERY ON HALLOWEEN

Voices mixed with footsteps
from some revelers in silhouette
echo from the cross street
a block from my house--

the words unclear--distorted.
Maybe those shadows are alien beings.

Well, that’s alright--
I don't want to feel safe tonight.

Those echoes ring within me
as I sit here on the porch--
I’m being invaded--
a chill thrills my belly

and that’s just what I want
tonight.

But then the party-goers go on--
the alien echoes die.
I sigh

then listen to the silence
--the emptiness--
both outside and in...

Suddenly the world is perfect:

I'm as deep and as dark and as bright
as that witching-hour sky.

And I realize:
I’m an alien in an alien universe

and you, you’re an alien too!

But that’s alright
I don’t want to feel safe tonight.

© 2020, Michael R. Patton