Parentheses

In years
he couldn't escape the ( )
he was caught between.

He couldn't define the problem
until he had the problem defined.

In self defense he went
to work everyday,
until things could be sorted out.

Time floated past him
like a thought balloon.

And in his sleep
he sometimes thought he knew,
but he didn't know.

The whole experience was
an inexhaustable koan,
enormous, standing on end.

Escaping from sleep
he would find
a busted handle for it;

Every morning opened up to
some truth evaporating.