What would it be like, do you think,
to experience the world as it truly is?
Not constrained by our ruminative fears
nor sliced through with intruded memories
or the droop of sentiment

These fictions can fade
in an instant.

At times, the unembellished will reveal itself:
a sudden vista, causing us to gasp.
A sharp bird call, startling through the silence.

These bolts halt us; free us,
if only for a second.

We cannot lengthen those moments
just as we cannot extend the next sound we hear.
But we can open ourselves to their invitation
and allow ourselves the undiluted joy
when it comes.

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