To think that we see
them so often yet so rarely consider
how those piebald songbirds so at home
on a snow-scape in their portable parkas
are made of the exact same stuff we use
to fill up our electric sky & shocking
watermelon nylon winter coats which must be
designed expressly for us to go out there looking
ridiculous not to mention callous (clothed as it were
in outright exploitation)—is the thing I’m pondering
as I observe through the window a little house finch
all feathery & poofed with his flushed cheeks
flitting over the snowy patio pecking among the abandoned
bench-feet for invisible if not entirely non-existent
morsels & hawking an air of self-possession that is obvious
even to me in my current incapacitated state
As for whether the red-crowned
retina specialist who conducted my examination
was young &/or fetching the prospect was relatively murky
(the simultaneity of his brisk entrance with the climax
of my dilation expertly flourished by his robust clasping of my
hand had inspired my conjecture that he might’ve been both)
& you’d better believe all bets were off the very moment
the white-cloaked smeary hulk of him ambushed my defenseless
retinas with an impossibly aggressive radiant device
thus affording me the pivotal elucidation:
that a). the anomaly on my fundus autofluourescence images
is simply an unremarkable patch of variegated pigmentation
b). it was only natural to expect that the definition
of such a lexical wonder as variegated would elude the layperson
& c). I am indeed obliged by gratuitous pigeonholing
to take categorical offense
Not that I’m usually so bold
as to co-opt medical jargon but I’m pretty certain
variegated is the only word that could aptly
account for what’s right now comprising
the better part of my visual experience
as embodied by this polka-dotty
aberration also known as a scone
I resorted to purchasing in the hospital café
thus affording myself the pivotal illusion:
that a). I’m quite absorbed in an earnest task
while waiting here in the lobby for my ride
b). I wouldn’t otherwise be averting
my freakish black gaze from passersby
& c). I’m the kind of person
who always smiles at everyone as if to say
I accept you for who you are no matter what…
From its orange piquancy
I’ve gathered that the scone’s dark splotches must
be cranberries—however vainly their vaguely moist
sweet-tang serves to redeem their crumbly substrate’s
alleged alimentary function
Still the finch remains
staunchly committed to my functional blindness
as if by sheer force of his impending command
its concomitant scone-silage would transcend
the glass & sift to the frozen ground
STEPHANIE L. HARPER
It may not surprise you to learn that I wrote this poem in January 2017, while brooding over a certain sociopolitical debacle. This is its first exposure to the light of day…
Wow. Your inner vision was certainly not compromised! Will think of you next time I suffer through a retina exam (and associated multi-syllable terminology onslaughts).
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Thank you, Jazz!
Yes, there’s nothing like not being able to look someone who’s patronizing you in the eye, to inspire the inception of a poem. 😊
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Your inner eye is more than up to the task!
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Reblogged this on O at the Edges and commented:
There’s vision, and then there’s VISION. Read Stephanie L. Harper’s poem to SEE.
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Wow! Thank you, Sir Robert, for doing me the honor of reblogging this one!
I suppose the only trouble with I had with seeing here, was my (lack of) ability to envision how this one might be received, or whether it contained a sufficient foothold for understanding. I mean, even the generously attentive bird was all about a certain utility that poetry, even at its very (subjective) best, doesn’t really afford… and my most earnest motivation both in life and as a poet is to be a provider of sustenance, if at all possible. Anyway, your generosity certainly just gave me some food for thought… 😃 💖
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Ha! My generosity is but a crumb in comparison to the lavish cake of this poem! Besides, you used one of my favorite words – variegated. 😀
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You can have my cake and eat it too, anytime, my friend, and I’ll keep taking whatever crumbs come my way.
I’ve had a long standing love affair with the word, variegated — since long before the retinal anomaly was even a twinkle in my eye… Lol!
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What a delight, this poem! Thank you!
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Thank you, Bob! So glad you enjoyed it! 😊
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Being subjected to more clinic visits than the average person, I have often found their dehumanizing effects extremely stimulating to poetry. I’ve never juxtaposed the natural world with the absurd quite like you do, though! I’m inspired. 🙂
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Thanks so much, SJ! I’m a great appreciator of nature, and look to it often to try to rise above the absurdity (there’s so much absurdity… 😢). Not sure of the extent to which I succeed on the latter count, but the birds don’t seem to mind my trying, at least. 😉
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REALLY enjoyed this, Stephanie! You are a word wizard and there’s nothing wrong with your vision!
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Thanks, Lynne! 🤓
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