An eye for an eye fleecing.
In conversation, eyelids betray
eyes prone to maximalist
searching. Between them,
in the god forsaken mess, a sight
for sore eyes can rest there.
One eye winks. Another eye
offers a terse smile, as all
eyes release the gimmick.
A trite liquid banquet.
Mettle, a tried and true
tourniquet, has broken.
Merriment recovers its merry
way, goaded by unbearable
splendor. Unhurried and decent,
a third eye stewards a chosen
Trojan horse. Both eyelids and
eyes are untoward, leaning
forward. A leak made waterfall.
There's more and more yet
none meets the eye. And the last
one to cry is quite gracious,
allotting time for its brine
to eavesdrop.

Isra Hassan is Somali-American poet from Minneapolis, MN. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and can be found in DMQ Review, Poetry Wales, New Orleans Review and elsewhere.