Annual Eye Examination
Today I had my comprehensive annual eye exam,
although I’m not sure I any longer comprehend
what I still see.
A waterfall can cloud one’s sight.
I had assumed my view of things would be
more clear, as I’d intended.
What happened to the age old old age visionary wisdom
I expected, just before the night?
But there it is, right in front of me.
Archie
Archie Bunker was not a caricature.
He was real.
We misperceived,
and we comfortably surmised
that the crap was over.
We eagerly covered our eyes
with a blanket of satire.
But Archie never died;
he wasn’t even sick.
He was just hiding behind the laughs.
Now he’s in the open, and he’s no longer funny.
Sending Archie packing will be painful.
But we can no longer afford to be amused
to death.
Gene Stearns is a retired health care executive. He has been happily married for many years. Gene enjoys reading good poetry and doing some writing when he thinks he has something at least vaguely interesting to say.
