The Last Two Seconds

We were told that the cloud cover was a blanket

about to settle into the shape of the present

which, if we wanted to imagine it

as a person, would undoubtedly look startled—

as after a verbal berating

or in advance of a light pistol whipping.

The camera came and went, came and went,

like a masked man trying to light a too-damp fuse.

The crew was acting like a litter of mimics

trying to make a k...