An Afternoon Poem by Tony Walton

I am doing nothing at the pool today
clouds drowsing above
someone is bombing cities
someone is screaming in traffic
someone is stuck in a broken elevator
I scratch my belly
and feel the butter warmth of the sun on my shoulders
I am without the noise
of any language, and
from the toil of habit
I am away from the dotting of i's
and the crossing of t's
that has become each day after day

I would ask you to stay still
as if you were absent from yourself
and you hear me from a distance
and now be silent, for a while,
just breathe in for 3 seconds
now breathe out for 3 seconds
Keep breathing and I will do the same
I will now close my eyes, and lie here
with only the sound of the bees
in the grass and you will stay quiet
and I will do nothing and
you will understand
the meaning of my escape.