So Sure of Ourselves - April 30 2025

 

So Sure of Ourselves

April 30 2025

It can happen with a dimming of the light.

The edges contracting.

A black spot

expanding off to one side.

Or all at once;

a blow to the head

sudden stroke

punctured globe.

But if you’re born blind

and have never known light

you will ask what it’s like.

If colours are like sound

is high or low

soft or loud.

If they feel like touch

can be smooth or rough

cool or warm.

Or if not opposites, then shades,

like barnyard

bittersweet

or savoury.

I wear thick glasses

that leave a dent in my nose.

The cataract

is a picture window

I can’t wipe clean,

while the torn retina

spot-welded

left a scar.

So, like hard of hearing

am I hard of sight?

Or are we all blind?

A 6th sense

we can only guess at?

A frequency

we can’t detect?

Some kind of dark energy

in the warp and weft of the world

we’re left to infer?

Matter we swim in

like water to fish.

All of us, born that way,

stumbling through the world

arms outstretched;

in the dark,

yet so sure of ourselves

it's sunny and clear.