as I understood it
and as I remember of what I understood of it

as if one had resolved to conceal all the meaning
within that which appeared meaningless

as fragile as intelligence

as if the spacious were suspicious

as easy (not effortless) as loving the lovable

as useful as trying to constrain
desire by tying it to money

as vice is averse to advice

as all are accountable
for what one does to another

as avoidance can be a powerful attractant

as failure is the driver of effort
(in the right proportion)

as muted as our reaction to other people's loss

as the pitiless are pitiful

as rage is a renewable resource

as common—and as tedious—
as violence

as future man will pay a premium for threat

as rare as a benevolent billionaire

as rare as a septuagenarian
smiling in a mirror

as unadorned as porn

as familiar as death

as corpses convert land into cemeteries

as the notion of ghosts is a ghost

as God is a (weak) apologetic for death

as gods become devils and devils, gods

as empty and sterile as a heaven
eternally waiting

as night alters the light

as the slightest sound
defeats the silence
for a moment

as useless as your curiosity
about the antecedents of my words