Without My Glasses In The Fog Poem by Jim Yerman

When I was young…before I could speak…before I was capable of dialogue…
unbeknownst to my parens…I saw life through a fog.

Everything my eyes could see…looked like a painting by Monet
I didn't know I saw the world differently…I was born that way.

I thought everyone had eyes like mine…and saw the world like me…
It would be years till I got glasses and could see the world that others see.

With only my eyes or with my glasses on…my world was as different as night and day.
I either saw the details of DaVinci…or through the haze of a Monet.

Yesterday, however, for a little while my world took a different spin.
The skies were clear when we began our walk…then slowly…the fog rolled in.

As the fog moved in and over us…as it blanketed the shore.
I thought to myself…this is wonderful…I don't need my glasses anymore.

So I took them off and for a moment played this little game…
with my glasses on or with them off…everything looked the same.

Yes, once the fog engulfed the people, the cars, the beach…the trees…
I realized, at that moment, everyone there was seeing the world I see.

So I put my glasses in my pocket…and for a few minutes at the beginning of the day…
I welcomed everyone I met…into my world…and the beauty of Monet.