short uneasy motion

I am back in the routine of learning my verses of the Ancient Mariner while driving to work. The week on retreat in the Blue Mountains was followed by a couple of tired days with a sore throat virus.

Now I am on the mend, I go over verses that I already know and repeat the new lines that are 'settling in' to my memory, with the help of the paper propped on the steering wheel. I only glance down at safe times, just as I do when I am following a map for directions.

On Tuesday I started at the beginning and went right through. It took almost 20 minutes and nearly filled the whole journey.

Yesterday and today, it is...

The Sun, right up above the mast
Did fix her to the ocean:
But in a minute she 'gan stir,
With a short, uneasy motion –
Backwards and forwards half her length
With a short, uneasy motion.

When I rub against other people, or they against me, it feels jerky, like a short, uneasy motion. Not comfortable. Rubbing against others this week, I feel this discomfort. There's something to help remind me to be attentive.

These tousled trees in the Blue Mountains have the energetic look of a short uneasy motion.