tangle of arrows

In the time of a thoughtful, bearded lecture,

for a moment I saw the clarity

     of chaos

behind the pacing of the speaker,

and the small crowd of souls

unrestrained, and I wondered about
     mining carts.

Would we suffocate? Could we

handle the tangle of arrows?

       A blue fuzz

powdered and consumed his head

and spread over my vision.

I had to look away, flinching,

to hang desperately onto this sight.  

     Clustered cosmos

all sitting in a classroom

listening politely, quietly,

     violently shaking,

and the blue consumes the room,

then settles into a quiet hum,

then dissipates into the words that once again

fill the air and take away my attention.