BAFFLE

When every little scent's intense, intensity

itself grows tedious. Not every sensation

can be sensational if we wish to remain

whole and sane. Holy thoughts and sacred

sentiments should be consigned to holidays

where they belong, so that the mundane

and unremarkable might also grow.

I know a woman who can hear an ant

gnawing on a seed deep within a fissure

on a beam. This doesn't lead to rapture—

it causes pain. I take a walk around

the garden walls I've built as baffle

to the fascinating marvels of my life.