just as the agent

just as the agent that allows us to see

can take that very gift away

in such likeness can

knowledge rashly given

lead one to ignorance 
 
a river's drowning of a rose

in a wave of overindulgence

in an explosion of the senses

until one becomes as a landlocked cow

ambling blindfolded thru the dark valley

with an hourglass around its neck

   coursing in reverse . . .