author’s note:

“In the book of the Sioux it is written:
  they have gone into the earth to hide.
  Nothing will coax them out again
  but the people dancing.”
                           –  Mary Oliver
 
FREEDOM FEET

Today, exhausted
by our smoke, I let
my feet breathe.

Greek naked.

No socks
for kitten security.
No shoes
for protection
from the blacksmith’s
villainous kiln.

Gingerly accepting
pleasurable points of grass
and the pebbly teeth
of rain fresh streets.

Yes, I hazard exposure
to the poisonous mist sizzle
of hissing Snake–

but I’m released to unfurl spirals
of dance in trampoline sand–
to sidestep with sidestepping Crab.

Today, my pads grew
more intelligent–gave my nervous system
valuable information
about what courage can open, about the explosive
mystery of Touch,
about subterranean pathways
to the lovers’ stone quarry.

Today, I chose–

I allowed my feet to exhale.
Allowed my soles to draw secrets
from the black soil.  And my toes
to gaze skyward–
to trace patterns of migration

that mirror the invisible rivers
my hound nose loves to track.

Today, I chose–
I obeyed,
I tried to answer
those questions of hunger
my blue earth feet
keep asking.

© 2008, Michael R. Patton

dream steps
audio file