A Reflection on Eyes.

“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.