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