Sometimes insidious, the 'A' slithers into sight, asplike, proffering the tempting curves of abundant knowledge, and wraps around the animus like a hope unexpectedly rising to get caught in the throat. It recognizes your complicity and winks at you, its belly sated with all the riches you have imbibed at its font. Like the sinuous stare of a Victorian houri, dangerous and forbidden, the letter tempts you with the rich curves, luscious in the angle of confluence, and bold in the extenuation of the arc.