271. Furthermore, Flutters

The tyranny
of small things
removes

The lushness
of eyesight
retains
and retrains
and gives
again

a book as big
as a body
and you can
live within it
protected
from rain
by giant leaves

and you rest
inside a jungle
rich and humid
and what
doesn’t kill you
you eat yourself

This is the way
of perceiving

of living in
the world of
perception
and you take
exception to
the monotony
of the leaves
to their regular
character
in terms of
shape and size
and you demand

against the faceless
shape of existence
itself

the opportunity for
richness breadth
diversity and riotous
sounds within
raucous color

Yet you might
if you take or if
you are taken by
the thought of
tininess
believe that

there is variety
and hugeness in
the small

that a swarm is
only a billion
small beings in
the shape of
a cloud and that

pattern provides
purchase for
an eye or a
thought

that you can
thrive in a world
that breaks
every rule
your eye would
make if only

you were
allowed
the opportunity
to believe

you were in
the world and
pierced by
what you saw
and folded into
the shadows
and carpets of
the earth and

that breathing
a swirling mass
of gnats
meant you were
alive and grateful
for the wingèd
breaths you sucked
in through your
nostrils each
filled with
the cool and
fluttering
air around you.