The Eyes Have It
“You could have a whole new lookwith your new eye,” Andrew said.As I sat in the office, my seeing eyetook in the scene – the suction cups,tissues – Andrew bending downto take out my artificial eye.“Being of a certain age,” I said, “I doubtthat I could have a whole new look.At least in this world.” The other day,for the first time in years, I worea little black dress. It drew gaspsand warm smiles at the party.Still, no one rushed to sweep meoff my feet.At twilight one night,I donned flowered shorts and a rosetank-top for a picnic. My friendswarned me to be careful: my outfit,they said, might attract bees.I saw a tray of painted eyes –looking at me. A brown onewith a golf ball hit a hole in one.Another, a miniature MarleneDietrich, sang like a Blue Angel.“Stop worrying about your looks,”said a-Katharine Hepburn-emblazonedeyeball, “jump in the ocean on a freezingJanuary day. That’ll put life in your eyes.”Uncle Walt was right,I see now.I contain multitudes. One new look would never be enough for my one eye.
My name Kathi Wolfe. I am a legally blind writer in Norther Virginia in the United States. I am submitting my poem "The Eyes Have It" to Song of Myself, Poetry Jukebox 2019. A print version is pasted in below. An audio recording of my reading the poem is attached. A brief bio of myself is below:
Kathi Wolfe is a poet and writer. Her work has appeared in "Poetry Magazine," "The New York Times" and other publications. Her most recent poetry collection is "Love and Kumquats: New and Selected Poems" (BrickHouse Books).