in knowing
what one knows
never to swing it around
too judiciously,
for the known
forms such a smooth-worn,
hospitable hilt
that the deadliness
and weight
of all
to which it's
invisibly attached
are about as salient
to the hapless wielder
as the mythic holy spear was
to a naive boy
like Parsifal.
One likes to think
one can cup the situation
in one's hands—
or grasp
the thing in itself
on demand,
but the truth is that
none of us can ever reach
to touch the tip
or finger the edge
of the blade unscathed;
all we can do
to the facts of the matter is
grab for their
ready-made
handles.
