Watch the tree flicker into non-existence.
I have no truck with folk who say the woods
are permanent. If some child on the beach
builds castles and then shatters them, you may
say “Here’s a castle,” or “Here’s none.” In truth,
there’s just the building-and-the-shattering.
Arjuna surveys the five hundred warriors
eagerly facing him on the field of battle.
His heart grieves at the thought of so much bloodshed,
for he will surely massacre them all.
And the Lord Krishna appears and speaks to him,
describing to him the manner of right living
over the course of about two hundred pages.
All the while, the five hundred brothers
jump up and down and wave their weapons.
They cannot see how this battle will end.
As Arjuna grieves, the Lord Krishna consoles him, saying,
“Arjuna. You cannot kill these five hundred warriors,
for I have already killed them.
They are all already dead.”