Sport 41: 2013
Peter Bland — First things first
Peter Bland
First things first
eyes open, breathe in, you’re
here again, with the sun
booming down and cicadas
stirring. Be still. Don’t
invent what doesn’t
need to be done. You’ve
lived too much of your life
in blind panic. It’s time
to leave that to massed ants
on the porch, or bees
going mad among
ripe daffodils. What
a blessing it is
to always be given
as much life as one
can imagine! But who
imagined this? OK,
so you’re only passing through
but what a wonderful
sense of occasion
repeating itself
day after day
because it knows
no other way, and this
is how it is among
massed ants and crazy bees
and a selfish heart
trying to take it all in
with an ancient, ignorant,
desperate yearning.