I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

8 April 2010

Until Today

I wasn’t scared at all until today.
Let me not go blind, dear God!
Well, it’s my left eye only,
not super-urgent, he said —
check it again in three months,
sooner if it deteriorates.
Surgery, not till later.

All those messages,
not clear until today:
the battery running low,
driving home in almost darkness,
hesitant and slow; and then the car
I backed into in spite of looking.
(Luckily not marked and he was cool.)

All those memories
coming idly into mind:
the friend who lost her sight
gradually, but oh, inexorably.
And the books where people told
what it’s really like — for some,
not dark at all but a sea of light.

All these intimations
I just refused to see. 
To see. That precious sense
above all other senses. Now
there’s a hole in my seeing.
The kindly Universe tried to warn;
I remained oblivious — until today.

April PAD Challenge 7
Prompt: Write a poem with the title 

‘Until ...’ and fill in the word or phrase.

4 comments:

  1. such as it goes.

    sea of light with sight loss. interesting. like floaters expanded infinitely.

    I have to admit my eyesight has slipped again. nearly 3 years since it was checked so appointment made.

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  2. Mine was a routine check after two-and-a-bit years. I have a membrane growing behind my retina - could have been serious if it hadn't been spotted at this stage. Now, is likely to be merely expensive!

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  3. ah, too bad, but better than blindness.

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