Many Beautiful Things Before Dawn

Things that you will never do
Occupy most of your thoughts—
Things that you will never do,
Composed of what you recall

Of things you’ve actually done.
It’s soothing. Sometimes it’s fun.
More often, you don’t notice.
Your musings chunter along,

Arranging and arranging,
Like someone with a puzzle,
Looking for pieces that fit,
Except this puzzle is whole.

You’re pulling pieces from it.
You want to make something new,
A better picture hidden
In the whole, a secret view.

You look up when you’re startled,
When something in the puzzle
Moves. Hawks soar past the mesa.
Things that you will never do.