Restraint

Five dozen poems and three
Or four of the latest
Finds in behavioral

Ecology later
(Eurasian jays jump in
For the lesser reward

If others are present;
New Caledonian
Crows hold out regardless),

And you’re still eyeing them,
The phrases that trigger,
The shiny temptations

That require self-control
To handle patiently
When no one is watching.

How can intelligence,
Bodied, disembodied,
Bear it, the near endless

Sifting of crushed details
For flashing fellowship?
The highest-quality

Delayed satisfaction
Would be shared-attention
Sharing, not the proffer.