Hindsight
My eyes don't work the way they used to see,
Straight lines as curves, I watch distorted views;
I cannot tell what's right in front of me.
I look ahead but can't make pole from tree,
The information gathered I can't use;
My eyes don't work the way they used to see.
I have to guess what shapes they ought to be,
From bits and pieces forced in place and glued;
I cannot tell what's right in front of me.
This is a blindness, all must now agree,
Though damage just to one small spot is true;
My eyes don't work the way they used to see.
I'm left to struggle with periphery,
Whose data into sight I cannot fuse;
I cannot tell what's right in front of me.
I was so scared when I first got the news,
To lose my sight my life it then did skew;
My eyes don't work the way they used to see,
I cannot tell what's right in front of me.
[For my mother, who struggles every day.]
#seeahead #challenge #poetry #villanelle #AMD
(c) 2017 Miriam Ruff