author’s note:

Green leaves–you may believe this or not–
have once or twice
burst from the tips of my fingers.
                    –  Mary Oliver
 

MY BEST INTEREST

These eyes open so slowly:

I see my best interest
is to believe
that what does not
have blood
can still bleed.

Otherwise, I’m too removed
to realize all the gifts
under this tree.

Those others are the masters:
let me explain:
            though a plant or
            a paramecium has spirit
            they don’t seem
            to need more–they seem
            complete–

I’m the hungry one.  Obviously
we need the Earth
more than the Earth needs us.

In my hunger, I may feed on
a mountain or a rock–
even the smallest pebble–I can feed
as long as I don’t devour.

These ears open so slowly:

even a shell, even driftwood has spirit–
otherwise, how could they speak to me?
I just have to open the conversation.

So, if grass is sentient
then each blade is not only
a metaphor for me–
I am metaphor
for every blade–
I have a point; I never fall,
I merely bend.  I am singular,
but never alone.  Cut me
and I will grow.

And furthermore:
my roots, spreading downward,
are life’s happy secret.
Roots love the earth
and so they hold dear.

Nonetheless, I can’t help
but believe I’m a weed:
by definition
a weed is a plant
no one thinks they need.
So until I find my best use
I will feel like a weed.

I have asked myself repeatedly
but the answer still eludes me.
I’ve got words, oh, I do use the words
but when I ask without answer
my oratory sounds like an echo.

Maybe the new leaves
and the fallen leaves
can tell me.  Or maybe
the driftwood
holds my story

–that driftwood’s so spiritual–

perhaps whatever lives
on the bottom of a pond
or on top of the hot
cloud formation
can unlock my door
with a perfectly chosen
silent password.

These ears, these eyes open
but so slowly: my best interest
blooms all around me: all around me
the landscape shouts:
“look, listen, sit, walk…
 feel–

then lie down and keep your mind
free for a short while”–

such instruction is enough
for me to find anything
I need
        –eventually.

© 2008, Michael R. Patton
dream steps
earnest audio