past present and future

I feel like there's something right in front of my face that I am supposed to grab, but I'm blindfolded and my arms are three inches long and it's making a sound that, if it were just a little bit louder, I could recognize but still not place. And people, ignorant or otherwise, describe it in their native english but still talk about it in plural with an 's.

The flashes of brilliance I need seldom come as they should.