Masticated Light

“Masticated Light,” a poem by Jamaal May (poetry, ’11) appears online at Ploughshares.

In a waiting room at the Kresge Eye Center,
my fingers trace the outline of money folded into pocket
and I know the two hundred fifty dollars there
is made up of two hundred forty-five I can’t afford to spend
but will spend on a calm voice to tell me
how I am to be repaired. But legally blind
and nothing can be done means I’ll spend
the rest of the week closing an eye to the world,
watching how easily this becomes that.
The lampposts lining the walk home
are the thinnest spears I’ve ever seen, a row of trashcans
become discarded war-drums, and the teeth
in the mouth of an oncoming truck
want to tear through me. Some of me
always wants to be swallowed.  …[Keep Reading]…