These Are My JOTtings, Part #2

How to Stay Focused

For when a squirrel across my path
doth cause me give him chase,
I stumble forward, soon to laugh
at circumstanced abase.

On a rabbit trail the bunny hops,
before my wistful gaze.
I run, pursue before it stops,
with stupered friends amazed.

My knackered frame on verdant knoll,
near-flopped without command
when a hawk swooped down with a smile so droll,
"I pray thee still to stand."

While trippingly with my tongue I bade,
"Fly not away from here."
"Whence can we sup, low-brow, earth-made
in situation clear?"

The squirrel, again
the rabbit's dance,
the eagle's beak,
the closest glance,
the tree trunk wins,
the respite sleek,
the battle thins.

The dust now settles on the scene
as hawk unperched in limb so mean
his head now rattled, no food to glean.
Raspberried tongues so small.

How focus we upon the day of earthly tasks?
This cautionary tale us slows, consistent asks,
"Doth rushing here and there, and there and here in masks
portend a ruthless fall?"

A focused heart in a slowish gait
may help us think anon,
while many tasks upon our plate
do work best one by one.

by Jay O’Toole
on February 12th, 2025