Ocular Obsession

When I was a kid I told my little sister if she was bad,

The Eyeball Police would come take one of her eyes.

I'm surprised I concocted something so creepy,

since my mom didn't let me watch horror movies.

She did let me watch The Birds (1963) though,

and this scene from it still haunts me:

The ending of this Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode The Glass Eye,

(coincidentally, Jessica Tandy is in it and The Birds),

left a lasting impression on me too:

So I blame Hitchcock for my preoccupation with peepers, which is still going strong.

That's why I loved the two stories involving eviscerated eyes in this issue of Excuse Me:

My favorite was End Of The Line by A.M. Metivier.

It inspired me to write this poem, which sort of sums up the story:

Love At Soul Sight

In line at the store Afterlife,

He met his future wife

Her eyes were gone like his, but their souls saw everything

He remarked "you look lovely in your wedding dress. Where's your ring?"

She replied "my husband took it back after I died.

Now I'm nobody's bride"

He asked "will you be mine? We'll make a perfect team"

She answered "yes! We no longer sleep, but we can still dream."

The title of the magazine and the story also reminded me of this song: