I’m a former trader.
His eyes gleamed in the temple’s dim light.
I thought I could win it all. Day after day I watched those red and green candles dance across my screens. They rose, they fell, hypnotizing me, burning my eyes and my mind.
I was blinded by gain and lost myself in the darkness.
But one day, the third light appeared to me.
He turned toward the blue lantern at the center of the hall, his features softening as if he were entering a trance.
That specter-lamp revealed the truth. It freed me from all that madness and brought me serenity. Perfect stillness.
He smiled with unsettling bliss, his gaze fixed on the blue flame.
I play in its light.