against the brink,
become their opposites,
then perhaps each
little word I place here
is a universe—
is a cat's eye
that's fixed on you, archly
but detached—
is a sign that, any
minute now, the sun might
break through cloud
and cause you to feel
your life has been
a good thing all along—
is more than just
a belated attempt
to add value
to what's lost—
is so beyond wrong
in appraising
that cost
that it isn't
even wrong.
