Published on: 6/26/2006
Vitreous Floaters

Muscae volitantes they are called,
The Latin for our English "flying flies;"
A term for defects or impurities
Developed in the middle aged eye-ball,
When cells and strands of tissue flake and fall
And float around as one surveys the scene--
Especially one nearsighted, like me.
They are best viewed against a sky or wall.
Sometimes these flying flies conglomerate
And fall upon the inner eye's bent floor,
Where they remain until you shake the orb--
And then, as snowflakes in a paper weight
Are churned up from the landscape they disguise,
They pirouette and swirl within your eyes!