“Eyes don’t look, people do”
So I learned in my poetry class from a
Sniggering professor who imagined eyes floating
In space.
Shaming students in to proper
conformity on how to write good poetry.
Yet we all understand, don’t we, that line from Eliot:
“Eyes I dare not meet in dreams.”
People may have the eyes, but do they look?
I have learned that I can be invisible
In fact, I have discovered that it is easier than being seen.
I have gone to parties where
No one noticed that I arrived
No one noticed that I left
I talked with people who didn’t listen
I was interrupted in ways that told me I didn’t exist.
When it stops hurting
There is a certain freedom in it—
Just open the hand and
let
...go
......of
.........being.
Human history is full of eyes that no longer see;
That may have never seen
That may have never been seen.
Who is behind the eyes?
Who is the seer?
Who is the who?
Why is the who not a what—what makes it a who?
A who may have eyes but whom do they see?
Eyes may be open and yet they are closed
Seeing what they choose to see
Do you see me?
Do you see yourself?
And the animals have eyes
What do they see?
I recall the look in the eye of a bull
As he was slaughtered
By the people who fed him and cared for him
Was it merely anthropomorphism—
Or was it truly a look of shock, confusion and betrayal?
Not something most eyes want to see.
So they don’t.
They see Big Macs instead.
Big Macs and profits.
Some eyes look down from penthouses
And see objects that walk and carry wallets and purses
Bulls and cows ready for slaughter
Consumers to be consumed.
Eyes that see products
Eyes that see money
Eyes that do not see each other
All eyes are closed
All eyes will be closed
But in this life
I would open my eyes
I would see with my eyes
Because it is true: eyes don’t see at all
It takes a person to see.
