Shopping in the Labyrinth

author’s note:

"Time is money."
        -- Anonymous


SHOPPING IN THE LABYRINTH

According to a recurrent dream
I'm traveling through a labyrinth

but unlike those described
in myths and legends
this passageway leads me
through the halls
of an average shopping mall

with countless bright stores
offering every sort of thing
except what I seek.

Not that I know
what that is--I only know
I haven't found it yet.

But I don't feel defeated--
I'm still eager to explore--to see
what waits next door down.

Maybe these dreams show how
I’m gathering information.
Even when I don’t buy what I see
I can find another piece of the puzzle
just by stopping to look

and if I collect enough pieces
I may be able to fill in the spaces--
I may see “the big picture”:
the grand design of this life.

A woman I met on a bus
told me she also shops
in her dreams...maybe
everyone does--maybe
we’re all trying to discover
the beautiful design in
what appears to be chaos.

In any case
this much is obvious:
we were made to shop.

The Truth of the Dream: poetry book
dream steps blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2022, Michael R. Patton

Obedient Scrub

author’s note:

I now realize: I may have written a Taoist poem.


OBEDIENT SCRUB

Though I hammered
and rammed
the wall did not crack
but instead, seemed to grow
even more resistant.

So
I decided to use
a different tactic:

I began to scrub—
hoping to erode
that obstruction.

But after decades of persistent effort
I realized a painful fact:

though I’d made significant progress
at this rate, I could work ‘til death
and that defense would still seem
too much a part of me.

Nonetheless
I’ve continued this slow attrition

because

I feel better when I obey
the desire of my heart—
the desire

to wear down that block wall.

© 2019, Michael R. Patton
my war for peace: poetry ebook