poem 006

walking down to Sherbrooke
. . . . . . . . . . . . 31.04.87- Rue Redpath, sunny, warm, 3:30 p.m.

Forward then down, forward and down.
. . . . .foot after foot falls,
. . . . .making quick stops; sloping over ground,
. . . . .arrested in slow awareness
. . . . .to (then) be found . . .

Suddenly surrounded,
. . . . . . . . . falling to full stop,
. . . . . . . . . within a spread of joyful accents,
. . . . . eyes blocked and jammed,
. . . . . squint flashed by sun,
. . . . . . . . . uniformed schoolgirls making for home,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a breathing plaid moving wall,
. . . . . . . . . with descent reduced, I am (stalled)
. . . . . . held for an instant, before lent again,
back walking, back to the city’s blurring gist:
. . . . . . . . . restored downward; halting,
. . . . . . . . . gait falling, foot after foot tracking,
out, under and below . . . forward again to fussing activity
. . . . . . pointing and surrounding and making,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pointless my ceaseless turning.