Eye Exam By: Mylinh Nguyen

Eye Exam
By: Mylinh Nguyen

It always begins with the letter E,
which is so large on the eye chart
that I should be able to read it in the mountains
from the floor of the valley below.

The F and the P on the second line
are just a little smaller,
still not much of a challenge.

By the third line
myopia begins to take its toll
and I wonder, perhaps out loud,
if T O Z isn’t a word.

Line four, I’m sure,
contains a reference
to the Los Angeles Police Department.
At least, I am certain about the L and the D.

The next line is a guess at best,
the first letter being a C an O or a G.
There’s no way to tell which.

Below that are what appear to be several lines
that were written by an unknown Russian poet.
This I can tell from the sadness
of the few letters that I am able to read.