Translucent

Spectacles: an instrument used to correct
Faulty vision. A deadly affliction
Striking winged Cupid blind.
Those blighted look not with the eyes
Nor with the mind

For once, there was a glass designed
Enchanted. By the devil himself — Snake of the Garden.
All beauty pierced to infinity fades.
And magnified — clear
That which is detestable and feared.

And from this glass enchanted come these lenses mine
Through which I see fate and suffering entwined.

But the cynic’s eyes — bitter apples — I would not relinquish.
For I am sick when I look upon
He of the fool’s eyes, seeing what
Childish delights spawn from immaturity.

He who inhabits the cave from birth, fire blazing,
Sees only the shadows on his wall.

Emancipated, I see the storm
Flooding the cave, extinguishing the fire.