Black Eye

By Steven Hendrix

You cannot see my black eye
when you hit me with words —
and sometimes not even words,
but a look from the corner of your eye,
or a smirk that curls just one side of your lips,
or worst of all, an unrecognizable sound
that comes from somewhere behind your nose—
though it swells the same
and my vision blurs the same
and my senses numb the same.