The Impact

Not long ago you were

Contemplating how common

It seemed to used to be

For family members to agree

Not to tell family members

That they had some terminal disease.

You only really have a sense

Gleaned from references in your reading,

Nowhere a specified quantity.

More commonly, you’re aware

People insist to themselves they aren’t

Pretty soon to be not as they are.

Even there, there’s some prominence

Bias—for the dictator, for the billionaire.

How many small denials are out there?

Are they any more likely or less?

Here’s a fun thought for the soon-to-be

Of themselves likely to be dispossessed—

Unlike with the arrow of entropy, you don’t

Know which way the arrow of belief might

Deliver the most, if any impact.