paying attention

what I'm listening to: Freedom by Tim Fain



If you pay attention
you'll notice the quick, smart whip of them
the flash of color, the dart, the swoop through midair 
red and yellow and sometimes blue
like bits of confetti caught in a swirl 
fluttering, small and celebratory

But you'll miss them:
in the time between the house and car,
hot, white sidewalk
your keys jangling, small box of flashing images
or on a brisk, productive walk
through a sterile neighborhood, desaturated, stark
where each blade of grass is precisely
three-quarters of an inch in length

They are too quick for passing glances
too shy for small talk
radiant in their colors but 
much too humble to desire notice

The way to pay attention is to
be content in your stillness
to give consideration to the things that
no one would pay to see 

Like the round bee, tiny early riser
legs plump with buttery pollen,
and the way the shadows shift and the light pours
hour by hour, brilliant and honeyed
through the leaves and petals
in the garden