Far

When I got my cataracts removed
the eye surgeon asked, how far?
How far do you want to see
without those ugly glasses?

I don't know. Truly, I've never
not worn glasses, never focused
beyond pages of books I read.
So then, I ask, "how far is far?"

Far is a subjective thing.
Hard to define, hard to see.
To some, far might be miles.
To me, it's inches from my face.

I held out my arm, my fingers
pointing upward—that far.
She measured and calculated;
Said, yes, we can do that.

Now I read my computer
screen without my glasses.
Performance much improved.
Spreadsheet grids no longer blurs.

I only learned as I recovered
That to fix one thing broke
another. I still need glasses
to see signs and stoplights.

And I need close-up glasses
to see within these inches
that once defined "near"
now just as blurred as "far."