Poem of the Day: "The Edges of Time" (Kay Ryan Week™, Day 1)

As our first entry in Attempts' Kay Ryan Week™, by way of easing into things a bit, I'm presenting (what seems to be) one of Ryan's most famous poems -- and the one that she herself chose as part of a "poet's choice" feature in the Washington Post. (Click through to read her own comments on writing the poem... but my advice is to read it first, preferably multiple times, and only then read what she has to say about it. I don't think her comments enrich the poem (a common thing with artists talking about their own work), and it's worth reading on its own first.)

The Edges of Time

It is at the edges
that time
thins.
Time which had been
dense and viscous
as amber suspending
intentions like bees
unseizes them. A
humming begins,
apparently
coming
from stacks of
put–off things or
just in back. A
racket
of claims now,
as time flattens. A
glittering fan of things
competing to happen,
brilliant and urgent
as fish when seas
retreat.

-- Kay Ryan

Come back tomorrow, as Attempts' already-legendary Kay Ryan Week™ continues!