From the Point of View of Eternity

We must always look at things from the point of view of eternity,

the college theologians used to insist,

from which, I imagine, we would all appear to have speed lines trailing behind us

as we rush along the road of the world,

as we rush down the long tunnel of time–

– Billy Collins, “Velocity”

The light streams through the dirty panes, golden squares onto the wall, mercury glass flashing like a Fresnel lens. I lie on the couch, shoes on, as the last rays sink behind the skeletal trees. The beams...