All his life he was surrounded by the encompassing darkness,

Not a single ray of light

Or color for him to see.

He was robbed of color,

Robbed of being able to see,

And he hated it.

-

He always wished to know what colors such as

Red

Green

Orange

Purple

Pink

Yellow

Blue

All looked like.

He asked friends and family to describe them,

But they never could.

-

The darkness was his only friend he ever saw,

Wrapping him in its comfortable arms

And bringing with it his doubts and insecurities.

He would wander in the dark for forever

And never reach the light

Or the colors.

He would be forever stuck with the dark.

-

Then one day, a friend of his told him of an operation,

One that could possibly give him sight.

It might now work, they had said. But it's a chance, right?

He had nodded and agreed to set up the appointment;

The appointment was set for February 16.

-

February 16 came, the day of the operation,

And he was nervous.

He was set on a bed,

the murmurs of the doctors soothing to him.

A pinprick of a needle in his arm shook him

And as he was about to say something,

He began to get drowsy like a bee drunk on pollen.

He heard a voice say as he was closing his eyes,

Hopefully this will work.

-

When he awoke later,

He couldn't open his eyes.

At first he grew worried something went wrong,

But then he realized that they were bandages.

They covered his eyes like a mask

That you would wear at a masquerade ball.

He heard a shuffle beside his bed and a voice say,

Are you alright?

-

Yes, he replied hoarsely.

But I want to see.

-

Hold on a moment.

There were hands on the bandages around his eyes

And slowly they were unraveled.

-

The bandage was peeled off,

silence reigning in the room.

Then he took a deep breath

And opened his eyes.

-

And then there was color.