Listen carefully—
whenever people say:
it's a slippery slope,
they're not really thinking.
Because obviously,
we've all been stuck
to this surface
for a while now.
And there aren't any
gradations, either.
There isn't any
center. and there
certainly never was
any middleground.
There was ever only
occasional
floozy curves
and maybe a few
interesting indentations
simultaneously vying
for our inter-
mittent attention.
And, of course,
there were
things—
even now,
things
are still real,
and we would do well
to continue to attend
to each of them
because
they (the things)
need us
in order to exist—
But personally, I no longer
think I prefer
one to another;
I don't go after things, either.
Not anymore.
I only move casually toward them
(even the things
that are invisible—like the way
ocean waves still waggle
at the moon
in broad daylight)
content to relate to them
a little
and let them carry me
where they will.
That way,
no one thing
will feel totally hopeless;
instead, it's like there's a little
barely serviceable
hope—everywhere I go.
