Now and then I have an experience that peels back the everyday gray to reveal a smidgen of hope. As in this poem, reality inevitably returns, but I take comfort in feeling I am one step closer to enlightenment.
The Window
By Raymond Carverthe electricity. When I looked
through the window, the trees were translucent.
Bent and covered with rime. A vast calm
lay over the countryside.
I knew better. But at that moment
I felt I’d never in my life made any
false promises, nor committed
so much as one indecent act. My thoughts
were virtuous. Later on that morning,
of course, electricity was restored.
The sun moved from behind the clouds,
melting the hoarfrost.
And things stood as they had before.
