My fingers scratch along the wall, as if searching for Braille. I can see, but I can’t see. 

My left eye a canopy of central blindness, a macular hole decades ago. Only peripheral vision, absent the indulgence of 20/20. Still, there’s vision, though distorted. 

My right eye—burdened with a congenital cataract—now with ghostly vision—parts of words, parts of people, parts of life, all mislaid, unseen. A blind spot. A hemorrhage. 

Download a copy of Sightless – Paul Rousseau, MD

Bio: Paul Rousseau is a semi-retired physician and writer, published or forthcoming in The Healing Muse, Blood and Thunder, Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, The Human Touch, Please See Me, Months To Years, The Examined Life, Burningword Literary Journal, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. T. J. Eckleburg Review, Another Chicago Magazine, Tendon, and others. He is also a lover of dogs.