Stripped of all precious illusion ...

as what happens. Someone very dry and pan-black did this: He stripped me of all precious illusion then of grace, while two women approached me and attacked. It could only have been death, not mine. Examples of my precious illusions until then: "life matters," "friends love one," "people want each other's health." Slowly, each of those -- now flat and dry but before that light and delicate -- returns in gray outline, like someone's idea of "aging." "Life matters," "friends love one," "people want each other's health" in relearning my spirit. Deaths: love/animals. I reject atheism. One day, I feel it: hope.