there is for example clarity
which comes in bouts
not particularly looked for
more often in fact arriving
just when it was the last thing
you expected and definitely
the last you thought you wanted
for with the onset of clarity
come unpalatable truths
which eat away at illusion
the illusion for example
of feeling unique which never
felt the least like illusion
or seeing in needle-sharp focus
how it is that Providence perpetually
torpedoes weak and careless effort
exposes personal insignificance
and in that wreckage come
forms of contrition that presage
elusive and longed for states of grace
