Trompe l’oeil

All the failures of an existence,
when meticulously compiled,
and given a certain coherence,
resemble a sort of pyramid—
monumental—though truncated,

maybe—when seen from a distance
at the precise moment the fading
sun reaches it, forming an angle
whose exact degree is obtained
based on the . . . but no, it’s more sphinx

than pyramid, yes, on second thought—
I’d say rather a stylized sphinx,
barely suggested, as suited to
a monument, or cenotaph, to nothingness.