Friday, September 26, 2008

be my eyes

a blind man got on the bus today with his companion. this made me start thinking about how i would describe each situation if i were such a companion. i would tell him how every time the bus gains speed my hair would be blown everywhere because i was sitting in front of the only open window on the bus. i would tell about how the tattooed woman across from me surprised me when she pulled out a small paperback C.S. Lewis. i would tell about how intent her eyes were as she was reading, like she was also struggling through the problem of pain. i would tell about her furry boots, which she tucked her cargo pants into. and how, as she got up to leave, she revealed that she had a use for every one of her cargo pockets. returning C.S. Lewis to her back pocket, and retrieving her glasses case from a pocket near her knee. i would tell about how the middle-aged bus driver would greet each passenger as they got on, grinning widely, showing his braces. i would tell him how some people squish themselves into their small seat. how they have to raise their shoulders and squeeze their arms together to even fit between the two people next to them. i would tell about all this and more.

how much more i would see if i were a companion of someone without sight.

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