A Poem Found In The Norton Anthology Grabbed My Attention

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My attention is a wild
animal: it will if idle
make trouble where there
was no harm: it will

sniff and scratch at the
breath’s sills:
it will wind itself tight
around the pulse

or, undistracted by
verbal toys, pommel the
heart frantic: it will
pounce on a stalled riddle

and wrestle the mind numb:
attention, fierce animal
I cry, as it coughs in my
face, dislodges boulders

in my belly, lie down, be
still, have mercy, here
is song, coils of song, play
it out, run with it.

***

A. R. AMMONS

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