This tiny poem packs a whole idea into six lines. It begins with lovers paying close attention to "certain forms of insistence", which could mean the persistent pull of desire, habit, or devotion. The poem suggests that by attending to these patterns, the lovers don't just observe them but turn into them. They become the pattern itself.
Then they "enter the core time", a phrase that feels like a deeper, more concentrated kind of time, set apart from ordinary clock hours. The last lines widen the view: in that time, "the tribe is permitted / to muddle on." The word "permitted" is interesting. It hints that the lovers' intensity somehow gives everyone else room to carry on, imperfectly and without much plan.
The speaker's tone is calm, a little wry, and quietly affectionate. "Muddle on" is gentle and humorous rather than critical. The mood is hushed and contemplative, as if love were a small, central engine that keeps ordinary life going.