After the Asteroid

In the midst of relentless
Likelihood, we dream and dread
Extremes. The rarer, the more

Likely to lead us into
Obsession. The car breaks down
After not being repaired,

Old age discovers ill-health,
Hard work produces modest
Accolades from old colleagues,

All the while we’ve been thinking
About some near miracle
Or being struck by lightning.

How do the lightning-struck feel?
What’s life after miracles?
All the evidence suggests

That, after extremes, priors
Get adjusted, thoughts drift back
To new forms of dream and dread,

While likelihood reasserts
Hegemony over days
Continuing to wander

After the great miracle,
After the strange disaster.