Clean Glasses
Clean Glasses
She took off her glasses,
held them up to the light.
They hadn’t been cleaned
in a while.
She licked both sides
of the lenses.
She does this
without thinking.
This was how they cleaned
glasses in the old days.
Before it became gauche,
a faux pas in polite society.
She used her slip
to wipe them dry.
She put them back on,
sliding them up to the red
spot at the top
of her nose.
She’s now ready to read.
Yesterday it was her bible,
tomorrow, well it will be
her clippings from the paper.
But today
it’s a letter from the kids.
It’s was those letters
that required clean glasses.
A paper chain that connected
her emptiness back
to her heart.
Pages of joys and heartaches.
Allowing her to share,
permitting her to grieve.
It was the glasses,
her precious glasses
that kept her connected.
Years passed,
the kids letters
slowed over time,
as those things will do.
The ritual of cleaning
her glasses faded too.
The reason to keep
them clean
didn’t seem all that important.
She still reads her bible,
her clippings too.
She still hopes that one day,
there will be a need.
To take them off,
hold them up to the light,
do the impolite thing
and clean her glasses.
10/28/16
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment