My theme this week is attention and I am kicking off the week with a poem by A. R. Ammons.

When I found this poem it made me think of ADD or ADHD and my relationship with attention. Only a few years ago I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD. Prior to that, the best word to describe me was as a classic underachiever. Throughout the week I will attempt to break down and examine issues of attention.

Pet Panther illustrates the way a mind works when it is unfocused or inattentive, as well as the experience of hyperfocus.

Pet Panther

By A.R. Ammons

My attention is a wild
animal: it will if idle
make trouble where there
was no harm: it will
sniff and scratch at the
breath’s sills:
it will wind itself tight
around the pulse
or, undistracted by
verbal toys, pommel the
heart frantic: it will
pounce on a stalled riddle
and wrestle the mind numb:
attention, fierce animal
I cry, as it coughs in my
face, dislodges boulders
in my belly, lie down, be
still, have mercy, here
is song, coils of song, play
it out, run with it.