Second Sight Ii

Sonnet: Second Sight (II) by Michael R. Burch (Newborns see best at a distance of 8 to 14 inches.) Wiser than we know, the newborn screams, red-faced from breath, and wonders what life means this close to death, amid the arctic glare of warmthless lights above. Beware! Beware!— encrypted signals, codes? Or ciphers, noughts? Interpretless, almost, as his own thoughts— the brilliant lights, the brilliant lights exist. Intruding faces ogle, gape, insist— this madness, this soft-hissing breath, makes sense. Why can he not float on, in dark suspense, and dream of life? Why did they rip him out? He frowns at them—small gnomish frowns, all doubt— and with an ancient mien, O sorrowful!, re-closes eyes that saw in darkness null ecstatic sights, exceeding beautiful. Published by The Neovictorian/Cochlea. Keywords/Tags: sonnet, newborn, baby, birth, kid, child, childhood, mother, labor, slap, breath, screams, life, light, sight, vision