Denise
Duhamel
THE
LITTLE I KNOW
ABOUT EYES
That
the image is
reflected upside-down
before
the brain switches
it around
so
we can see
it. That if
you cough too
much
when
you're little
(let's say
you have
asthma
or bronchitis)
your eye muscles
will
feel the strain
and one of
your eyes
will
become tired
and you'll
begin
to
go cross-eyed
(it happened
to me)
but
then if the
doctor catches
it in time
(like
mine did) he'll
put a patch
over
the the good
eye to make
the lazy one
work
and
even though
you will still
cough
this
lazy eye will
straighten
itself out.
That
we blink so
fast so often
that
we can't detect
that blinking
in others
with
our own naked
eyes that are
also blinking.
That
when I was
little
kids
teased the
other kids
who had to
wear glasses
and
called them
four-eyes.
But
that suddenly
it became fashionable
to wear glasses.
That
people wearing
glasses look
smarter.
That
contacts are
very popular.
(My
husband wears
them.)
That
you can be
blind and still
have
the
most beautiful
eyes.
That
you shouldn't
ever look
directly
into the sun
or at an eclipse.
That
the disease
commonly called
"pink
eye"
is
technically
conjunctivitis.
That
a "red
eye" flight
will take you
from
N.Y. to L.A.
or vice versa
overnight.
That
when you close
your eyes after
staring
at
an object you'll
see its outline
in
opposite colors.
That
eyes produce
eye snot
(what
my aunt called
it)
or
sleepy seeds
(what my mother-in-law
called
it) especially
when you have
a cold.
That
eyes get bloodshot
when they don't
rest enough.
That
eyes are stolen
out of some
children
who
live in El
Salvador (I
know this sounds
utterly
impossible
but it's true)
and
sold for eye
transplants
in other countries.
That
the children
are kidnapped
like
the British
businessman
was in New
York--
he
was kidnapped
and drugged
and
taken to some
quack clinic
and
then woke up
the next day
on a park bench
in pain
because
of the sloppy
stitches.
That
his kidneys
had been stolen
(this is all
true--
I
met a friend
of this fellow
at a party)
and
organs are
big sellers
in certain
parts of Asia
because
it's against
the law in
certain countries
to
donate your
body to science.
That
the eyes are
taken from
children
who
will never
see again.
That
those children's
eyelids will
close
and
fold into their
eye sockets
and they
will
scare you for
a minute when
you look at
them--
that
is if they
survive.
That
I imagine most
will die in
the operation
because
of the loss
of blood and
because
of
the bad conditions
under which
it's performed.
That
someone miles
away
will
pay good money
for the eyes
of
these children
and use them
as their own
(let's
say the buyer
has diabetes
or glaucoma
or
was born blind)
and some of
these eyes
won't even
take
because,
after all,
it's a difficult
procedure
and
there are no
guarantees.
That
someone you
see on the
street
may
be looking
at you with
the eyes of
a child
from
El Salvador
and not even
know it.
That
they may look
away or squint
to read small
print.
That
you may be
farsighted
or nearsighted
or have astigmatism.
That
it takes time
for eyes to
adjust
when
you walk into
a dark theater
and
the movie's
already started.
That
you can't tell
what you're
buying anymore
just
by looking
at it with
your eyes.
THE
LITTLE I KNOW
ABOUT EYES
appeared in
"The Star-Spangled
Banner"
(Southern Illinois
University
Press, 1999)
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