big rock, little man

Occasionally, I’ll stop myself from interpreting a dream…

For example, I didn’t want to interpret this recent dream:

On one side of a narrow highway, I see a small white farmhouse. A man lives here with his wife and child.

Behind the farmhouse lies a rocky coastline and the ocean.

But my attention is drawn to what dominates the scene on the other side of the road…

A stone cliff rises up—it’s a hundred feet high or more. Atop the cliff sits a massive, well-shaped boulder. From its lofty perspective, it looks out, towards the ocean.

That boulder has a presence all its own. A strength. It’s indomitable.

Though I wondered about that rock with its great profile…

…I resisted the temptation to try to interpret its meaning—I feared I might spoil the mystery.

But I guess, in a way, I did interpret it, to a degree…

I found its meaning by trying to describe it adequately.

That stone is about strength. Endurance. A higher perspective built on a solid foundation.

If such a thing is in my dream….

…it must be a part of me—hard as that is for me to believe.

Of course, that little man in his little house is also a part of me. My small mundane existence still goes on, down below.

That’s all good to know; nonetheless, for the time being, I don’t plan to go any further with this dream.

However, I know the dream will stay with me—its great peaceful mystery with stay with me…

So perhaps, in a month, or a year, or even ten years from now, I may come to its deeper meanings—a deeper understanding of the whole beautiful scenario.

About Michael Patton

I am a poet, novelist, essayist, cartoonist, graphic artist, peace miller, new mythologist, and fledgling world citizen.... I grew up in Northwest Arkansas and have lived and worked all over the United States.... I'm self-taught, for the most part--which is like searching for the right door in the dark. It's an on-going process.... I don't want to write MY story, I want OUR story, so that's what I'm studying: the human story: past, present, future, in its many aspects--including the spiritual. I'm proceeding at a slow crawl.... I don't see the inner world and outer world as separate. By learning about myself, I learn about others, I learn about my world.... Conversely, as I struggle to understand what I see OUT THERE, I learn about myself.... But to be clear: I don't claim any special understanding. I'm still purblind, still only half-awake.... After frustrating experience with the publisher of my first novel, I've published on my own, beginning with e-books, with plans to move into print and audio. Even video.... Along with a second novel, I've now published eight books of poetry. Each poetry book focuses on a theme. For instance, the collection GLORIOUS TEDIOUS TRANSFORMATION is about the slow difficult wonderful process of change.... In that book, as with all my work, I try to be accessible to a general audience, while also striving to achieve a certain literary quality.

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