People in motion - upwardly mobile,
Climbing the ladder, scaling the heights
They best be careful - Watch for snakes
At the head of the slide to decline!

For descent is a long tumble and fall,
A dropping - as the world gathers on;
A shock - when you discover the snakes
Weren't your friends at all.

People in motion, rampant, exalted
Like poppies paraded every November:
Elevators often reach the top storey
Before returning again to the ground.

Lower than oak hewn for timber ....
Lower than beech felled by high winds
Lower than elm pulled down, diseased -
People in motion can sink.

Hippity hop, skip, jump and vault,
High hurdlers can be leap-frogged on,
Pounced upon, bobbed and tripped,
Sprung upon - left standing still.

People in motion in the water:
People in motion brought to scuttle;
People in motion sent to the bottom;
People in motion in Davie Jones locker;

While around and around the waters turn,
Winding & twisting as the current runs.
Put a girdle around the world?
Would those in motion falter at all?

For things whirl, and reel, and spin!
Rotate, revolve, gyrate, wheel!
Like a horse in a field .....
Tethered up and left to feed.