it seems a seal's whiskers
curl so as to be unmoved by rushing water
but twitch behind the vortices of a fleeing fish
(so says a serendipitously met friend
who has become a Doctor on the subject)
earlier, another chance encounter
a freshman student, now a senior
doing well, still
seems so young
but also more clearly defined
and present
but I "literally have to run"
and, running late
(as ever this day)
change and jog backwards
hoping to collide with-
-ah, there they are-
a professor of thoughts elegant and integrative
plus another student
we run, and they speak of
how a robot sees objects
in their pose - position and orientation
and we talk about how
cameras might see an object move
and guess its internal motions
which I rather want to call
its poise
but can't figure how
calves still sore
from doing this Thursday
(this prof once
ran 18 miles
accidentally in a day;
this is his commute;
)
I spin
mental gears
on other
projects
or
(tired)
cease
fast forward
remove the seal
of time
at home
recover
from the images of the day
the bright flickers and fireworks with
enough vortices to twitch any seal's mustache
unwind and
slack
the paid out line of sleep
let it pull
this wave returns
to the sea
with sore calves