Intraocular – by Geoff Page


Does every surgeon smile like mine, 

breezily but tinged with caution? 

They know statistics happen. 

 

Hard not to like the words they use, 

words like “intraocular” 

and others that don’t scan so well 

 

but work to churn the stomach, 

the run of syllables that holds 

the grinding up and sucking out 

 

of tissue that has served you well, 

albeit thickening of late.  

I checked the whole thing out on Wiki 

 

for details of its filigree,  

to see how miracles are made and where 

such confidence begins. 

 

Suddenly, sans glasses, 

I see new ranges reappear 

complete with branches on a skyline, 

 

hear the road-signs speak more freely. 

Later there’ll be optics for 

the smaller fonts up close. 

 

St Matthew’s not too clear on how 

Judeans saved by miracles 

survived their first few weeks. 

 

Gratefully, you’d have to think, 

and wondering, with acuity,  

how long a marvel lasts. 

Image: Fons Heijnsbroek - Wikimedia Commons


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Geoff Page

Geoff Page is based in Canberra and has published 25 collections, most recently 101 Poems and Penultima. Secular Psalms was published by Pitt St Poetry in 2025. 

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