Ode to My Glasses

Thank you
for allowing me to see
clearly and without difficulty
You help to distinguish me from everyone else.
You give me something to
take care of, and keep clean,
as if I was caring for a child.
You bring out the beauty of
the mountains and trees.
You sharpen the color of the flowers
and sky, of the fire and water,
the pink cherry blossoms falling from the tree
at the corner of the block,
the red ketchup stain on my favorite white sweater
after eating dad’s homemade hot dogs,
the darkness invading the sky
during a thunderstorm,
the jade bracelet around my grandma’s wrist.
My glasses,
you wait for me every morning
when I wake up,
in the case next to my pillow,
always there when I need you.
Thank you.

– David Nguyen, 14

From a WritersCorps publication at Mission High School
Poem of the Month: November 2006