Monolids by Shelley Wong

……………………..In the ghostly movie palace 

………….our eyes weep at our eyes 

elated across the screen. Biggest 

……………………..little eyes. We are alive 

………….& ancient. Our eyes 

soften our eyes, clean 

……………………..or dressed in glitter 

………….& smoke. Our gaze facets 

kaleidoscopic. Our eyes 

……………………..are next-door eyes 

………….but sometimes our eyes 

want to stay unread.

……………………..Two women 

………….glance at each other 

in a field & no one 

……………………..says sanctuary or belonging. 

………….Tonight, the silver storm 

shakes like a hologram 

……………………..as we trace fires burning

………….along the opposite shore. 

Our eyes close, but do not 

……………………..go out. Our eyes illuminate 

………….our gathering, collide 

reaching for our eyes.

Shelley Wong is the author of As She Appears (YesYes Books, May 2022), winner of the 2019 Pamet River Prize. Her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry, Kenyon Review, and New England Review. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships from Kundiman, MacDowell, and Vermont Studio Center. She is an affiliate artist at Headlands Center for the Arts and lives in San Francisco. 

25 April 2022