OPHTHALMOLOGY ii
by Vanessa Gebbie
An oculist, searching the retina, finds
mudflats, rivulets, tributaries —
sees everything but not the map
charting the soul’s discoveries.
Vanessa is a well published Welsh poet, novelist, short story and flash writer, editor, writing tutor and mentor, wife, mother and grandmother.
www.vanessagebbie.com @VanessaGebbie
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What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “OPHTHALMOLOGY ii”? I had occasion to go to the optician, for a regular eye update a couple of years ago – and they had a new piece of equipment, which scanned the retina and took photos. I was mesmerised – I’d seen these images of the retina before, but never mine. It was like looking at map of waterways, watersheds, both beautiful and slightly frightening at the same time. A journey of discovery into my own eye… I wrote a longer piece, a flash length piece, soon after, entitle ‘Ophthalmology’ but it didn’t feel right. That piece got shorter and shorter – morphed into a poem, became shorter still. And finally it was saying what I wanted it to.
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
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Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.
Upcoming
06/29 • Chao Wang
07/06 • Adrian Potter
07/13 • Lissa Staples
07/20 • Emily Kingery
07/27 • Eipsita Kumari
08/03 • Ryan McGeeney
08/10 • Suzanne Martinez
08/17 • Courtney LeBlanc
08/24 • Barbara Diehl
08/31 • Richard Hurst
09/07 • Michael Okafor
09/14 • TBD
09/21 • TBD
09/28 • TBD