As I go blind I see

flashing lights
then fog obscures
the dogwoods
standing
by my buried
iris bulbs

but
as I go blind
I hear
the earth
whisper me
her ways

I hear
the ground shift
I hear
the dogwoods blossom
in fog
my ears
become irises
my synesthesia
flowers

each macular hole is an hourglass in my eye

my eyes once wild
feral stars
now see light
disappear
into two black holes
macular pits
drawing light
bending rays
in the middle
until all I see
is shaped
like an hourglass

in time

time runs out
light waves
a farewell

final flares
lightning
my vision of dark
lightening
my glass of time

traveling me blind
to a universe
of touch and sound

I caress my cheeks
I polish my voice
I survive

communion with orange

blind after the assault
after the eye surgery fails
I lie in a cloak of dark
with wet-petaled irises
as my body re-members
herself

remembering how you
sweet orange
once peeled yourself
for me like a lover
displaying your flesh
tang savored slowly
even now on the tip
of my tongue

though my eyes sleep
in night morning orange
kisses my lips
her juice chalices
my chin

then with open mouth
and closed eyes
I love blindly fresh
citrus zest blessing
my tongue

I become, wholly
the fruit I see barely
by the skin
of my old soft teeth

Mary Alice Dixon is involved with hospice care, reading poetry to the dying and making support calls to the bereaved. She has also been a caregiver for loved ones in her family. She rejoices in her quirky synesthesia, a rich alternative to her very quirky eyesight. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a finalist for the NC Poetry Society 2023 Poet Laureate Award. Her poetry appears in many publications, including Broad River Review, Fourth River, Kakalak, Main Street Rag, Northern Appalachian Review, Stonecoast Review. Mary Alice believes in poetry as a vehicle of healing. Beginning in January 2024 she is teaching a course on healing through writing for those who have recently lost loved ones in hospice care.