busy

Means, occupied, from the old(e) English bysiġ?
Bisect? two worlds?
D.H. Lawrence learned the languages
People in fields, cutting hay, hot sun
Wagons, scythes, forks, climbing stacks
Mounds of golden bright stems
Destined for winter floors, indoors
Barn floors, stalls, mucked, raked
Changing colour, and on it goes
In manor houses, afternoon teas
Long conversations of nothing
Dreaming, scheming boredom, longings
Wronging with good intent, neglect
Servants, gamesmen, farriers, carpenters
Carriages, footmen, polishers attend
Language of doing, often silence
Sweat stains, badges of honour, strings of game
Stacks of hay, barley, baskets of apples
Counted, noted, ledgered, the stuff
Of doing, but Lawrence sat
Dipped stylus to well, scratched pages
Sitting, harvesting words, bailed
Polished, stacked, layered, laundered
Sometimes raw, subtle, erotic
Sweat on brow, ink on fingers
Saying sometimes what was not said
Reading that not done, more light
Peering between lines, rows of crop
Ploughed, dirt overturned, fragrant
Busy days, on the road, in the field
At desk, hands still, thinking
Ready to leap, scoop, drive, arrive
As writers like us, busy
Compose, even without pen, keys
Remember your grocery list
Dry cleaning, moist warm hands
Both on the wheel, stop to gather
Hunt, stack, fold, shine, all the while
The soft white surface, blank
Whispers softly, beckons
In this flat field, you can reap a harvest, too.

Haystacks with a Vista (1930) by Paul Turner Sargent