author’s note:

“My poetry isolated me
 and joined me to everyone.”
            –  Pablo Neruda (trans. William O’Daly)
 

SAME

Here I am
straining away–
trying to break open
feelings frozen–foraging
within myself

when I see–to my dismay–
10,000 people
marching in
the opposite way

to a store that sells
wispy fumes from dry ice–

nevertheless
we both study
the same course:
they have grief,
I have grief;
I build strength,
they build strength.

We both try to
understand what
we can not.  Maybe
I fail more often, maybe
I should ease up.

But I am trying to learn
the visions of 10,000
perspectives–

from big-sky miners,
from deep-sea astronomers–

from garden moles (just like myself)–

among other questions I ask:

What do windmills discover
from the wind, from the grain?

This job of mine
is full-time
and until I develop
enough heart, my mind
will feel exhausted.  So excuse me

if my bellowing
seems poor in oxygen–

I really would
like to give you
a fresh breath–

because we struggle
the same climb
toward peace.

We share the same grief.

© 2008, Michael R. Patton
dream steps
honest audio