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author’s note:
My dancing feet refuse to learn dance steps. I think they just want to be free.
MY FESTIVE SONG AND DANCE
I told the wise one:
“The love I feel in my heart
seems inadequate for the task of life—
I’ve tried but can not lose
that quietly persistent sense of lack.”
And in reply the wise one said:
“Yes, you love the rain
but you hate
when rainwater floods your lot.
And yes, you love the sun
but you hate
when those fiery rays scorch your crops.”
Aided by her insight I then saw the obvious:
If I saved my love for those parts of life I liked
my love would never fully develop—
I also needed to love the hardships I dreaded.
So I tried to love the times of pain:
I danced when merciless storms came
and sang a song of love
when the sun seemed so uncaring.
But despite my festive efforts
I still could not quite love
the fire and the flood.
However
since I love to dance and sing
I did feel some love in my heart
during weather that seemed unfair.
But still not enough, not enough.
So I continue to try
to learn to love the deluge that ruins
as well as the sun’s cruel nonchalance.
Not easy work to be sure, but made easier
by my stubborn song and dance of love.
How Can I Live In This World?: poetry book
dream steps blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2026, Michael R. Patton
author’s note:
To all my fellow specks.
THE DEEP THRILL OF MYSTERY
Sometimes as a child
I’d stop
all my buzzing about
and in the sudden quiet
I would sense mystery.
No matter where I was.
Even standing in a shiny white appliance store
I’d feel the world watching me.
So I’d be a little afraid
but also get a little thrill.
So I liked to stop occasionally.
But these days the world seems
to have turned its eyes away from me.
The world seems quite bored with me.
Even the stuff in my own house.
Even my own house.
However I can still summon
the deep hushed thrill of mystery
by using this trick:
I will force myself to stop
buzzing about
then tell all I see in the world around me:
Yes, I may be just a speck
but so are you—
we’re all just specks on a speck.
We’re all just appliances
and neither you nor I can say for certain
where we came from
or where we’ll go
once we’re done here.
Those unanswerable questions
will then spark my mind
and I’ll begin to ask myself:
How could something come from nothing?
And what purpose does all the stuff
of the Universe serve?
Does a purpose even exist?
Of course, all my pondering
will lead nowhere
and when I finally give up
I’ll be left with an empty head.
I’ll just stand there
in the quiet stillness of the moment—
overwhelmed
by the mystery of this universe.
What a buzz. What a thrill.
dream steps blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2025, Michael R. Patton
author’s note:
Continuing a theme. Or maybe I’m just repeating myself.
I HAVE FOUND A LOT WHILE LOST
Often in this life
I’ve traveled a long way down a road
without finding what I hoped to find.
And when I’d finally give up
I would feel my efforts had all been for naught.
But later, looking back
I would see:
how I’d found so much
while trying to find
what I then realized
I didn’t really need.
Searching for my best beliefs: poetry book
dream steps blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2025, Michael R. Patton
author’s note:
Use of the word “nowhere” has spiked in recent years.
I wonder what that says about us.
GOING SOMEWHERE
I’m often disturbed
by how we use the word
“Nowhere”.
Just the other day
I overheard someone say:
The road went nowhere—
the dirt tracks disappeared
as soon as we reached the trees.
How very wrong he was:
any road that leads you to a forest
goes somewhere—goes to a forest.
And even if the road had ended
before reaching the tree line
it would still have gone somewhere
because every place on Earth is a place.
A fact I find encouraging
as I approach a new road:
I know
no matter how it ends
my efforts will definitely lead somewhere
and each step along the way
will take me to
a new place—another place
to be explored.
Myth Steps: poetry book
dream steps blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2025, Michael R. Patton
Michael Patton
sky rope (subterranean rappel) 