Ripples Only Keep Spreading or Vanish

The things you touch feel
Like they’re responding
To you in some way,

Whether malleable,
Clumsy, slippery,
Even obdurate,

And since daily life
Involves a great deal
Of touching objects,

You tend to accept
You have some effect.
It’s only watching

Events from afar,
The outcomes of which
Matter much to you,

That you may notice,
Despite all your prayers,
Charms, and grimaces,

You have no effect.
Two ways to go, then,
And most choose the first—

You can double-down
On confirmation
Bias and insist

Somehow you have jinxed
Or subtly aided
Your rooting interests,

Or you can confess
Not only do you
Not sway the outcomes

Of distant events,
Even what you touch,
Pick up, shove and shape,

Is not a result
Of your intentions.
Your intentions aren’t

The result of you.
You’re moving nothing
Much doesn’t move you.