Under the aspect of eternity
All vicious cycles cycle into virtue
And mere contingency resolves

But standing atop the mountain of space and time
The vertiginous vortex obtrudes
Centripetal compression and untimely death
The unrelieved suffering of vermin
Thrashing in the jaws of a spring-loaded trap
Technology of retribution
For the crime of conscious life
And yet consciousness even of pain
Does not pertain to individual objects
Objectivity being an organizational principle
As much a matter of convention as of fact

Oh for the satellite view of error
Mental lapse delusion evil intent
And the invidious judgments of others
As focal cone scorches leaf
The harsh incense dissipating wildly

Women and men sing hymns of praise
And raise martial strains to weaponry
Apply pigment to the remains
Grieve the loss of a favorite implement
This creepiness intimates
The life that flows beneath the clutter

A glare obscures the screen in light
Effacing the man painting with his shirt off
High atop a crane
The whirling dizziness in the kindergarten
The denizens who glide in the portable aquarium
The mincing step of the dancing master
Fashionable and cunningly coifed
The lumbering gait of the muscled rock star
Preening in his old age
The tentative progress of the pre-teen
In her sparkle and fairy glamor
Parting her lips and pressing them closed