make sure you're up to speed

Here's an Alan Gillis poem from the current year's "Forward Book of Poetry":


The Readiness

It could happen at sunset
on a sloping lawn.
In a yawning estate
it could happen at dawn.

In a queue for your therapist,
in the public baths,
on a road through the forest
it could happen in a flash.

Under a harvest moon,
in a lift, on the stairs,
in an encrypted chatroom:
it could happen anywhere.

So make sure you're up to speed
when, at sunset or dawn,
worms vex the seed,
crows shadow the corn.

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Alan Gillis (1973 - )

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