20/20
If babies wore contact lenses, less people would procreate.
Not because it would be a choking hazard, the flexible
hydrogels slide down the throat like macaroni noodles, sit in the whistling
stomach, wait more patiently than the squirming ant she grabbed off the kitchen
tile while you were making breakfast.
More than the waste of money from each lens lost, when as she
finally neared fingering contact to eyeball she was distracted, jerked to run
her palms through the dog’s
lush golden forest, which ran out into the green prickling
fur, irretrievable.
Vanity would not be in jeopardy because babies have no
desire to be hipster. None wear square Ray-Bans to complement their cup of
coffee. They would burn the buds off the petal that is their little baby
tongue.
Tearing fragile plastic wouldn’t be an issue, because as
good as these small humans seem to be at destroying, their fat foam fingers
couldn’t make the impact necessary for nails to rip the material. Babies can’t
even use scissors.
The problem I foresee occurring is that babies will be able
to see. I know whenever I wear my contacts, I am awake in the world. We aren’t
ready for babies to be awake. She would know to be embarrassed when a
rainbow-painted dodge ball half was used as the hair of her clown costume, she would
know you were poor when their playpen was a cardboard box. She would laugh
along when she sees her ponytail stick straight from the top of her head like
the antenna of a radio. She would finger-paint what she saw in your eyes when
she nearly cut off her own hands.
I find it hard to believe parents could take being loved
more.
I like how peculiar this poem turned out to be the sense of oddity portrayed throughout the poem. I especially like the direction you went when talking about vanity and being “awake.”
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that sticks out to me when I read this is the idea that the reason babies don't understand what is going on is because they have vision problems. I love the rest of that stanza about what it would mean for babies to understand the world, but it doesn't really come from them needing or not needing contacts. In the context of the poem this works fine, that's just the one part that felt weaker.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this poem Payton. It was so humorous. The poem was about such a weird topic, and you brought interesting points out, like babies being hipsters. I agree with Hannah in that your last stanza was a little bit confusing because I don't know that it makes sense that babies would be able to comprehend more about their lives just because they could see more clearly. On the other hand, though, I enjoyed that you infused things about what I presume to be your own childhood. So, I think you could go either way with the inclusion or changing of the final stanza.
ReplyDeleteI like how you made a serious topic playful. The imagery here is brilliant and comparing the child to hipsters was done well. I also like how you used gold lush Forrest then green prickling fur. Really unpredictable.
ReplyDeleteBabies will be able to see differently—do all of them have bad vision? I am saying we aren’t letting them see, not a development thing.
ReplyDeleteAdam and Eve imagery?
They would burn the buds of their little baby tongue—random
Confusing with she’s and hers—my.