How Many Thoughts

Nobody truly realizes,
how many thoughts;
how many bio-electric sparks,
ignite each and every second.

Thought is action,
instantaneous.
A flash that appears
and then is gone.

Comprehension,
a reaction;
is slower
more deliberate.
It's a necessary filter,
dividing the conscious
from other mental levels.

Sometimes we see beyond the filter.
Usually when just waking up,
or stirring in the first layers
of slumber.
Mostly it's accounting,
sorting and arranging thoughts
into an internal database.

But occasionally we see more.
All the elements
of madness and brilliance
science and magic
laid bare
before our mystified cognizance.

We are all trusting.
All paranoid.
All secure.
And all panic-ridden.
Elated and depressed
Casual and obsessed.
Seeing the hidden secrets
of theology and physics;
Our minds
a part of the Cosmos.

So those few
deliberately trying to see beyond the filter,
risking sanity
for innate brilliance.
Are they the unsung heroes,
or the true devils?