Have you ever worn glasses?

I have. And I still do. 

The first day I put them on was exhilarating-

Liberating-

The mountains were more than blurs of lines

and messy hues below a cap of blue.

 

Bronze frames with colorless lenses

had focused sight into life.

And I loved to live.

My parents paid for them,

and I repaid them in my joy.

Sure.

I repaid them in my joy

and usage of the bronze frames

and clear untainted lenses.

 

I wore them every day

and soon saw they effect on my play

I could see the ball soar higher

and see the lights grow brighter

as I raised my mitt to catch a flier…

only to feel my lenses slip

and slide a little

messing up my sight a little

and sidling my mitt a little

so the ball hit the ground-

unbridled.

 

Sometimes the nosepiece would get a little bent

and then the frames that they held up would get a different scent

and my head would have to tilt itself to see the world straight

and my finger would need to push them up for the frame’s unapologetic state

 

And other times the screws would loose and become less brittle in hold

the arms which pushed down on my ears would lose their metal mold

and then the back side of my head would ache an awful lot

as my right side’s ear would feel a slide as the bronze frame left it’s spot.

 

And every day they put themselves blatantly in the way 

of the world-its rocks and wood- and the air behind their space

and the lenses would get scratched and the lenses would get cracked

and the correctness of my sight would be marred by damaged light.

 

My parents reached in pockets

and in purses and in wallets

they forked up cash in dollops

and purchased me new sight

These lenses were frameless

and used no ears to balance them

I felt them slide a little

but my vision didn’t dim

 

I used these lenses frequently 

but not frequent enough.

They were better for my play-

Sure-

But they had higher costs.

Running late already 

made me neglect to put them in

and though the lenses seemed so thin

they felt like tin- so I wouldn’t put them in.

 

But then my parents corrected me 

to correct my correct-less eyes

and wear my corrective lenses

that I could see the brighter skies

 

And so they kept on paying

and I kept on wearing cash

Obligated to correct my senses

Like a camera with it’s flash

 

But these lenses were to last a while and would sit in liquid at night

And oh thank goodness because my eyes were always quite a sight

After a long day of wearing plastic pieces on my eyes

I felt a little distraught remembering this didn’t happen to other guys

 

Oh, and if I would wear them while dust was in the air

That dust which would then deliberately contaminate my eyes

The correctness of my vision would be blurred by reality’s breath

And not fair to fear my tears and tears would never blink on out.

 

And when I reached up to rub my eyes because they did hurt so

The lens inside would slip and slide and break “correction”s flow

It would slip on out or just slip up and get covered in lint.

As such I lost my parents cash and the world became half dim.

 

 

As I’ve lived and worn pairs and pairs

and pairs of sight-correcting little worms

I have so much crap and junk to say about them

and so much hatred for the dough it cost to get’em

 

But though it SUCKS to admit it

I just can’t help but spit it

That my world without’em

is blurred.

 

Yes, I have worn glasses.

Yes I still do.

But the term corrective lenses

Will never be true

 

Because the only thing they do

is change the way I am

But is the change permanent?

or is it just another scam?

I am not a different person when I wear them on my face

It’s too short-lasting of a difference to apply it in that case

And for all the good they do FOR me 

The only thing they’ve done TO me

is stab 

and cut

and tear

and hurt

and rob

and distort

and get my hopes up for a brighter future

Cuz’ they show a brighter present-

 

But, still

At the close of every day I take them off to sleep

But before my vision leaves I look up at the Darkness…

and feel my eyes adjust to the world they’ve been thrust back in

a world where no “correction” inherently is given

And every day at that sight I close my eyes to dream

of a world where my body has been given a new name

and I can see with all the “correctness” that the lenses claim to give

 

Only to wake to a body that is broken again.