THE STUDENTS OF THE INEFFABLE

WHAT I am about to say happened years ago. I had rented a house by the sea. Each night I sat on the porch and wished for some surge of feeling, some firelit stream of sound to lead me away from all that I had known. But one night, I climbed the hill behind the house and looked down on a small dirt road where I was surprised to see long lines of people shuffling into the distance. Their difficult breathing and their coughing were probably caused by the cloud of dust their march had created. “Who are you and why is this happening?” I asked one of them. “We are believers and must keep going, ” and then he added, “our work is important and concerns the self.” “But all your dust is darkening the stars, ” I said. “Nay, nay, ” he said, “we are only passing through, the stars will return.”