Don't Look Back

Kay Ryan

This is not
a problem
for the neckless.
Fish cannot
recklessly
swivel their heads
to check
on their fry;
no one expects
this. They are
torpedos of
disinterest,
compact capsules
that rely
on the odds
for survival,
unfollowed by
the exact and modest
number of goslings
the S-necked
goose is—


who if she
looks back
acknowledges losses
and if she does not
also loses.

2007: Ulysses by Alfred Tennyson