Sitting quite still
and with Nothing
to hold on to.

While the planet
on which you sit
(a kind of ball, flattened at both ends)
is spinning
at a fair old rate of knots.

And rolling all the while
in a great circuit
round a vast, exploding Ball of Fire.

Sitting quite still
(and with Nothing
to hold on to).

It takes a lot of self-discipline
to say, “How do you do?
And your family?
And your dog?…”
and wonder,
“Will it rain tomorrow?
“Will the Stock Market continue to fall?
“Might it be a good idea
to grow asparagus this year?”
(After, say,
another forty-four
circumnavigations
of the Ball of Fire?)

Assuming, of course
that we don’t fall off
and the Ball of Fire
doesn’t suddenly go cold
and freeze us all to death.

A great deal of self-discipline indeed
I assure you
is needed.

.