A Little Bit bout “The Last Thing I Ever Saw Out There”

I was struck with the idea to write my poem, “The Last Thing I Ever Saw Out There,” while listening to Molly Burke’s memoir, titled It’s Not What It Looks Like. In her book, Molly, a popular YouTuber, tells about her experience going blind from an incurable eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa, RP for short. You should check it out. It is very informative. I could relate to much of what Molly wrote about RP because I, too, live with the disease in my own life. Although RP has its own signature symptoms, such as tunnel vision, night blindness, and sensitivity to sunlight, no one can ever tell us when complete blindness will occur—if indeed it ever does. Some people with RP, for instance, still drive at age 60, others like Molly go blind at an early age, while others like myself go blind later in life. Nonetheless, for those with RP who still retain some sight, the prospect of going completely blind still always lurks in the shadows.

In Molly’s memoir, she answers an interesting question someone had asked her: “Do you remember the last thing you saw before you went blind?” At that point, I paused her book and began to ponder that question. I wondered if the answer to it might depend on if one went blind gradually over the course of several, or many, years or lost it instantaneously, such as in an automobile accident. That’s when the title for my poem came to me. I then hit play, finished Molly’s book; and the next day got busy writing, “The Last Thing I Ever Saw Out There.”