and so the old man said
eternity is a thing we have
 
no hope of understanding.
things happen the way
 
that they do. a note follows another
in a song. a song is itself and
 
not another. a song is a song
itself. eternity holds space for
 
all these songs. for a song is
like a life, resounding in a kind
 
of tune. lives are what they were
and have been. lives are not merely
 
every worst thing. a mother prays
for her scoundrel son to be taken
 
up into heaven. Lila thinks this
an injustice to the scoundrels
 
with no mothers. people try
to get by. people are good
 
by their own lights. people take
all the courage that they have
 
to be good. for in eternity,
to eternity, eternity is just
 
a thing.