THE MARBLE EYE by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali
The marble eye
is an ornament
coldly carved by a craftsman
to fill an empty socket
as a corpse fills a coffin.
It sheds no tear,
it warms to no love,
it glowers with no anger,
it burns with no hate.
Blind it is to all colours.
Around it there is no evil
to be whisked away
with the tail of a horse
like a pestering fly.
Oh! the marble eye-
if only my eyes
were made of marble!
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