SOMETIMES, THERE IS A LIGHT THAT SHINES FROM UNDER THE SKIN, AS THOUGH YOU ARE A STAR BOUND BY FLESH AND HAIR, AS THOUGH YOU ARE A MAMMAL AND NOT GOD'S MISTAKE. SOMETIMES, THAT LIGHT IS THE NORTH STAR, AND SOMETIMES, IT GUIDES YOU THROUGH ALLEYS MADE OF GREAT BOUGHS OF OAK; THROUGH FURIOUS TIDES OF COBALT; THROUGH SAND DUNES THAT PILE HIGH, ALL THE WAY TO HEAVEN. ALWAYS, THOUGH, THE END IS THE SAME; DEATH, EITHER FOR YOU, OR SOMEONE ELSE. WHAT GREAT PHILSOPHER HASN'T KILLED HIMSELF? WHAT TRUE POET HASN'T SUFFERED? WHAT ARTIST HAS SMILED IN HIS OWN SELF-PORTRAIT? "NAME ONE HERO WHO WAS HAPPY. YOU CAN'T." THEIR TONGUES ARE BLOODY AND THEIR TEETH ARE GNASHING. THEY TEAR THEMSELVES APART FOR THE BEAUTIFUL. IT IS NO SECRET. IT IS ONLY THE TRUTH. OFTEN, WE CONFUSE THE TWO.

"THE FIFTH ANGEL SOUNDED HIS TRUMPET, AND I SAW A STAR THAT HAD FALLEN FROM THE SKY TO THE EARTH. THE STAR WAS GIVEN THE KEY TO THE SHAFT OF THE ABYSS. WHEN HE OPENED THE ABYSS, SMOKE ROSE FROM IT LIKE THE SMOKE FROM A GIGANTIC FURNACE. THE SUN AND SKY WERE DARKENED BY THE SMOKE FROM THE ABYSS. AND OUT OF THE SMOKE LOCUSTS CAME DOWN UPON THE EARTH AND WERE GIVEN POWER LIKE THAT OF SCORPIONS OF THE EARTH. THEY WERE TOLD NOT TO HARM THE GRASS OF THE EARTH OR ANY PLANT OR TREE, BUT ONLY THOSE PEOPLE WHO DID NOT HAVE THE SEAL OF GOD ON THEIR FOREHEADS. THEY WERE NOT GIVEN POWER TO KILL THEM, BUT ONLY TO TORTURE THEM FOR FIVE MONTHS. AND THE AGONY THEY SUFFERED WAS LIKE THAT OF THE STING OF A SCORPION WHEN IT STRIKES A MAN. DURING THOSE DAYS MEN WILL SEEK DEATH, BUT WILL NOT FIND IT; THEY WILL LONG TO DIE, BUT DEATH WILL ELUDE THEM."