Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Bruce McBirneyJune 17, 2002
A brownish-yellow V-shaped blur,
With spidery strings unfolding to each side,
Floats slowly past my field of view,
Then bounces, dances, when I turn my eyes
To left or right, or up or down.
A floater, says the doctor. No big deal.
A spot of gel inside the eye
Has loosened from the retina and pulled
Away, but throws a shadow there.
It likely won’t get worse. He winks and smiles.
But if it does, you’ll know. It flares
Like fireworks, or else drops a curtain down.

A tiny imperfection to remind
One that the world is graced with flaws,
But also meant, perhaps, to give one pause.

My yellow blind spot floats and jerks up high
Before the lovely, red-swirled sunset sky,
And teases that it may
One day hold total sway.

So too an angry jeer,
Or just a word
That cuts too often and too near,
Is quickly said, but deeply heard,
And has the power
To sear and to erase
Within an hour
A love you gave up half your life to chase.

The Editors of America are pleased to present the 2002 Foley Poetry Award, given in honor of William T. Foley, M.D.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024