Warning: hyper-
focus on anything
as precious
as consciousness—
as ethereal
and mysterious
as this inkling
we exist—
may make it feel
from the inside
like the smallest
loss is total.
To one day
be ordered
to slip off
the coil will
of course sound
unconscionable—but
even to sleep
(with its mere
"perchance"
of dreaming)
may at best
seem a gamble—
and at worst,
a betrayal.
