Tag: ears

Lacking Only My Mother’s Eyes

The front of my head is the part people see
But the flat bit in back is what happifies me.
It doesn’t have freckles or acne, just hair,
And it’s rare to see broccoli waving from there.
You can’t breach the back of my scalp through a hole
Like the two in my face that lead straight to my soul,
And in hay fever season there’s nearly no snot
On the nape of my neck (though it’s wet when it’s hot).
Blame your sinuses’ minuses all on your nose,
How come some invite spiteful defacement with those.
While the mouth does provide undeniable joys,
It’s one end of a two-ended tube; both make noise
And when solids or gases emerge, earn disgust.
The anterior hemisphere earns only trust
And devotion. The face has its fans, but I tell ’em
On balance you can’t beat the back’s cerebellum.
Occipital lobes are the finest, that’s clear
(When bedazzled, close runners-up: Those on each ear).
If you still haven’t made up your mind, here’s a test:
Front or back, which do you most re-lie on for rest?
The front of the skull is a cavernous space
While the back has attractions no mask can erase.
As free from corruption as something Job said
Is the fuzzy expanse of the back of my head.

Ode: Ear

It’s likely I shall never quarrel
With my twinned appendage aural.
Miracle, that two exist!
What stimuli might I have missed,
How many heartfelt conversations
Lost to unobserved vibrations,
Lyrics rendered wrong by me
But for their sensitivity?
Wherefore have I been gifted–twice!–
This cartilagenous device
Affixed against my skull just so
That pipes delight in stereo?
What’s more, were they profoundly flawed,
Their usefulness would still have awed:
They also serve, I may report,
To offer spectacle support
Without which my misshapen eyes
Could not but fill my head with lies.
So precious are they both, my dear,
I fear I dare not lend an ear.