Cat’s Eyes Removed

We went past a road sign the other day

‘Cats Eyes Removed’ it said

It really frightened my daughter

In anxiety she envisioned cruelty

Blind cats everywhere, bumping into things, the slaughter

We told her about Percy Shaw, that Halifax inventor

Who patented the idea in 1934

But I don’t suppose she’ll remember

Out of sight, out of mind.

In our synthetic world around, where thoughts and hopes must drag along

As animals, wounded or blinded

Where feelings easily turn to mush, repeated

I wish supposed facts would not so dominate,

Their graceless gravity crushes the soul                        

While certain things they force are poisonous.

The escape is there for all

But few are free enough to notice

Out of sight

Out of mind.

Lawrence Freiesleben, Cumbria 2019