At the crosswalk a blind woman
offers you her arm
as you cross she says she
has looked into heaven for you
you cup your hand to your ear
but all you hear is
the turning of keys
She steps into a shop
and you think I should have
said something
You walk on promising
yourself that next time you
will know whether to use the polite
or familiar that next time
you will join the seniors doing
tai chi in the park
that next time you will lift up
the toddler in the doorway
the one that won’t stop crying
and sing him all the verses of the song
you remember now for
the first time
Note: art by Kenneth Patchen from the cover of Panels for the Walls of Heaven, Berkeley, 1946.
Ben Jacques Stories 