Tunnel Vision

My wandering eye
won’t see a wider view of the world
It’s because when I
was a child they cut the muscles
My vision free to see only what could go wrong

My mirror mirage
reflects a stare both direct and distorted
A memory montage
of what went before and what will be in store
Repeated transmissions projecting the future

A squint is a smile
where you swear you never see my lips move
It is not my style
for my face to show false emotions
The lines are etched too deep

Blink to refocus
And all that is blurred is brought back to clarity
All this can show us
is that chance is not a charity
where the needy get priority

Long lashes can’t veil
a gaze that glazes over with alarming frequency
I am sure to fail
to control what map my mind decides to follow
It’s a safer path to predict

And there could go I
But by the grace of God I am spared
And it will be my
cross to bear that I am never happy,
only relieved