Haunted Page

05 Mar 2023512 EDITIONS

1.125 TEZ

\begin{align*} & \text{You realize it all remains the same, but with an asterisk.}^{*} \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ & \rule{14cm}{0.25mm} \\ & ^{*} \; \text{You realize your asterisk isn't what, in fact, mattered. It's the sentence your asterisk} \\ & \; \; \, \text{augmented that actually mattered. Perhaps, now, that sentence seems to remain $all$ that} \\ & \; \; \, \text{matters, still, asterisk aside.$^†$} \\ \\ & \quad \quad \text{$^†$} \; \text{You may delude yourself into believing you should have foreseen the shape of it, your} \\ & \quad \quad \; \; \, \text{asterisk,$^‡$ and you may even have trouble forgiving yourself, ruminating over such} \\ & \quad \quad \; \; \, \text{past naïveté.} \\ \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^‡$} \; \text{In the present, awake at last to your asterisk's true form, perhaps you find some} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \; \; \, \text{peripheral meaning in the way the light hits your sentence through that asterisk$^‖$} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \; \; \, \text{at certain times of the day. And in the way you see your sentence now, filtered} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \; \; \, \text{through your asterisk's shadow.$^¶$} \\ \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^‖$} \; \text{It remains a distinct vision you never anticipated, never could have seen,} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \; \; \text{never in exact detail, despite the brilliance of your ambition, clear as} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \; \; \text{sunlight through backwater, evident in the asterisk itself.$^\#$} \\ \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^¶$} \; \text{The ghost of your ambition, the mother asterisk,$^Δ$ may haunt you forever,} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \; \; \; \text{should you fail to release it.} \\ \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^\#$} \; \text{To release this ghost, repeat the following mantra: ``I release.''} \\ \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^Δ$} \; \text{You failed to recognize an asterisk. In failure, your asterisk becomes} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{irrelevant. It never changed the meaning of your sentence because that} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{sentence was the only thing that ever mattered, and it is all that matters} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{now. Be proud for remaining unable to anticipate an asterisk. You can} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{find no meaning in the way the light hits your sentence through any} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{asterisk at any time of the day. But meaning is overrated. Hold on to this} \\ & \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{asterisk$^*$ and let it haunt you forever. Never repeat the mantra, ``I release.''} \\ \\ \end{align*}

Haunted Page

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