What You Can’t Know Right Now
by Len Slatest, East Moriches, NY
Is the tumor benign, or malignant?
The interview went decently, but will you get the job?
you really need the money
The trial is only a week away
he’s a danger to them
irresponsible
will you get custody of your kids?
Squirming uncomfortably
in an interregnum of uncertainty
it’s not where you want to be
but you’re there
knowing the outcome is important, but nothing else
a turning point, of unknown direction
Such an indecent lack of information
unjust
unconscionable
depraved
you’re floundering
in the perilous eddies of the universe
unanchored
prey for lurking chaos
This is life at its most elemental
It’s there as you eat breakfast
there as you drive to work
even as you make love
especially then
hovering
unseen, towering
preoccupying
more! a death grip on your gullet
it tries to extinguish your breath, turn you blue,
eat your bones
In the underpinnings of existence there is only probability
no causality
it makes you shiver
but we don’t live there
