I read a piece this week titled, “The Eyes We Use” on Shigé Clark’s Substack that moved me. The article and title got me thinking about my daughters and my wife, @jenpedwards who have been though so much. I want them to know that I see their beauty. 

I am also grateful for Shigé’s vulnerabilty and honesty. Oftentimes what happens when we step out, people are inspired and what we make ‘exponentializes.’ All this is to say that if there is anything worthy, credit goes to Shigé, if there is any fault, it is mine. Thank you @shigewriting!

The eyes we use
To devour the food we will not eat,
To possess the beauty we will not reflect,
To stare at glories we will not behold,
To judge what we project,
Do not see all that yet 
Deserves seeing by the eyes we use.


The image you hope is beheld
Is not the one that shimmers
Through the surprise laugh,
Or the breaking smile 
That makes your eyes squint and close.

You, may say to yourself, I’ll pay for those
In the wrinkles of the old, 
Or the feet we call crow’s.

Will the tax of smiles leave you
Fearful of the payout someday?
Will the prodigality of laughter leave you
Wishing you could wash them away?
Will they leave you sad 
When the eyes you use tell you, 
You look old?

Your body’s image does not matter
It cannot see.
It does not see what we see:
The soul shining from within—
That is something to behold.

It’s your eyes I see.
And in them, youth, weariness, the playful one,
Who looks shocked but in whose eyes
I see neither shock nor surprise—
Only fun.
I see in them the kindness and forgiveness 
That makes me drop mine.
When I have none
In my eyes.

Open then and look at me.
In your eyes is Immanence that
Winks back from eternity,
When you shall one day behold 
The Face of the sunrise smile
That has waited long to
Welcome you in benediction.

I wish you could see you then.
You’d be both proud and 
Humbled for the vision.
To see you that way:
As I see a glimmer of that you today
With the eyes I use