Confusion reigns, as the darkness winks and slithers and shimmers all around. The Uptown boys are singing battle songs as the Undertaker puts on a pot of coffee…

A blind old man Shuffles past the cat food factory, and Benny-Next-Door damn near cut off his own foot while he was choppin’ firewood.

Meanwhile, we crouch in our encampments, hiding behind any walls that can be built. We test the waters constantly, and we wring our hands, and we pace, and we mutter and grimace in nervous anticipation.

Here I am, a man of disarray, humble obedience, and sudden reaction, sifting through grit during a storm, shoveling garbage in the middle of the night, hiding from harmless insects, and calmly smoking a cigarette as the house burns down around me.