The speaker looks back at Leonardo's sketches and admits that only one part really held their attention: the drawings of rippling water, and the idea that water, wind, wood and air all follow a single law. From there the poem wanders through everyday examples of that idea. Ripples spread in the kitchen sink or around a thrown stone. Swings, clocks and seesaws repeat the same back-and-forth motion. Bird wings work like levers, and flowers grow in rings from the core. Even a cut tree trunk, the seasons and the rain cycle seem to circle back on themselves.
The mood is quiet wonder, almost private. The lowercase, unpunctuated lines feel like thoughts arriving one after another. At the end, the speaker moves from the sink to the sun and then to a ticking watch. The capitalized "Someone" suggests a designer behind all this order, a presence who "nods" in approval. The tone is gentle and reverent, less a lecture than a delighted noticing.