We know much more than we think

I should have studied cryptic crosswords first

Before I turn my mind to writing verse.

How could I bedazzle readers’ eyes

Hinting at the mysteries inside?

I should have studied Dante and John

Donne

Or Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson.

I should have gone to Eton or St Paul’s

then I could think in Greek by shadowed walls.

We have to make good use of all we know

Don’t keep crying out and calling More

Infinite the treasures of each mind

When like a little child we make designs.

On the seashore with the infants play

The grains of sand are infinite today