Earthquake swarms that go
bump in the night as I stumble
through darkness in a jumpsuit
that predicts how I will

feel in 30 years. Can no more tell
how any of us will rate
on the pain scale—emotional, physical,
or spiritual—than you can
know when we’ll go down

stairs without a care
in the world—this or that or any
other one that may or may not
be spinning out there. But
these guesses are infinite—and free.