If Old Eyes Could Clearly See



If my eyes could see as clearly
As others see me looking,
They would see a thousand miles.
They would see years
And tears and swallowed fears
And as intently as I listen,
They would see what I hear
And hear what I see.

If my feet could touch the ground
And not ride upon worn out soles
That do not cushion,
Rather mask pain they should feel,
From toe to heel, and from
Ankle to arch,
Up and up the feelings would be,
High on the calf and swarming the knee.

If my ears could hear as clearly
As in my youth and before I flew
Thousands of miles away to be
Pummeled by jungle noises
Louder than freight trains roaring
And harsher than jet planes soaring--
I would hear the tiniest sound
And discern the smallest plea.

Age has nearly finished
Its assigned task of killing me,
Sense by sense, breaking
Connections to the touchable
That no longer elicit feeling
In my fingers and toes. I am left
Lacking what are distance and space
But distractions to me.

And with a loss of sensual clarity
Comes a blooming of new roses
And a flowering anew in a soil
Deepened and made fertile
By the rains of nearly a century.
And comes a new vision, fed
By the dark loam, my spirit
Grown at last, tall and free.

***

Morning, and a dampening fog
Settles upon the land and in
My bones and awakening mind.
Cleansed, then dressed ambiguously,
Undetermined yet, the day’s route,
And until the fog lifts, I waver,
Waiting for the clouds to clear and the sun
To rise upon me.

About this poem

As I age, my eyes have faltered along with my limbs and joints, so that as I strive on, I am limited by my decaying body.

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Written on April 14, 2023

Submitted by DJGillert on April 27, 2023

1:30 min read
52

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXCCDXA EXDXXXAA AXAFBBEA XABGBXXA AFXGAXXA XXXAXXDA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,459
Words 301
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

Douglas J. Gillert

Douglas Gillert was a career publicist and journalist with the Armed Forces and Department of Defense. He authored the novel "The Orchard Trail," self-published on Kindle. more…

All Douglas J. Gillert poems | Douglas J. Gillert Books

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1 Comment
  • Dread
    I related to the issue of aging and the inherent infirmities it brings.
    LikeReply10 months ago

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"If Old Eyes Could Clearly See" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/158615/if-old-eyes-could-clearly-see>.

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