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Michael R Burch Apr 2020
Reflections on the Loss of Vision
by Michael R. Burch

The sparrow that cries from the shelter of an ancient oak tree and the squirrels
that dash in delight through the treetops as the first snow glistens and swirls,
remind me so much of my childhood and how the world seemed to me then,
    that it seems if I tried
    and just closed my eyes,
I could once again be nine or ten.

The rabbits that hide in the bushes where the snowflakes collect as they fall,
hunch there, I know, in the concealing snow, yet now I can't see them at all.
For time slowly weakened my vision; while the patterns seem almost as clear,
    some things that I saw
    when I was a boy,
are lost to me now in my advancing years.

The chipmunk who seeks out his burrow and the geese now preparing to leave
are there as they were, and yet they are not; and though it seems childish to grieve,
who would condemn a blind man for bemoaning the vision he lost?
    Well, in a small way,
    through the passage of days,
I have learned some of his loss.

For, as a young boy I endeavored to see things most adults could not—
the camouflaged nests of the hoot owls, the woodpecker’s favorite spots.
But now I no longer can find them, nor understand how I once could,
    and it seems such a waste
    of those far-sighted days,
to end up near blind in this wood.

Keywords/Tags: reflections, loss, vision, childhood, eyesight, perceptiveness, acuity, age, aging, cataracts, blindness, days, years, decades, near-sighted, far-sighted



What the Poet Sees
by Michael R. Burch

What the poet sees,
he sees as a swimmer
~~~underwater~~~
watching the shoreline blur
sees through his breath’s weightless bubbles ...
Both worlds grow obscure.

Published by ByLine, Mandrake Poetry Review, Poetically Speaking, E Mobius Pi, Underground Poets, Little Brown Poetry, Little Brown Poetry, Triplopia, Poetic Ponderings, Poem Kingdom, PW Review, Neovictorian/Cochlea, Muse Apprentice Guild, Mindful of Poetry, Poetry on Demand, Poet’s Haven, Famous Poets and Poems, and Bewildering Stories
Jayanta Mar 2015
Who will talk now with common man gesture?
Who will give message now about humour and giggle of life?
Who will play the character now which can rejuvenate farmer’s dream?
We miss you,
In all occasion of acuity to animate!  
But we will carry your message of humour and giggle of life
To invigorate and survive,
Lead towards simplicity and acuity!  
Hope you will be there in golden paddy field,
In the blue river,
In green mountain
To remind us  
About humour and simplicity of life!
We have lost our adored actor Indra Baniya, who was only the fifth Indian and first Assamese to bag the prestigious Silver Leopard Award at the Lucerne International Film Festival, Switzerland. Our young days were passed listen his dialogue in Radio drama and later on film. He was famous for his humour and simplicity. In my graduation days in a public programme three our friend performs group recitation where he was there for his comedy show. After the programme he appreciate us and suggested in such public predominance don't carry loose pages with your poem in your hand, either carry a notebook or write it on card.  I still follow this. We have lost a great humanitarian who face every troubles in life with humour. May his soul rest in peace!

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