By Anju Verghese
Blindness.
My constant companion since birth.
A dark cocoon encompassing me,
Giving me no cause to fear.
I know not the colour of my eyes,
Nor the shape of my face,
I know not if I’m fat or thin.
Do I have any saving grace?
I know not how you age.
But I hear the stories unfold,
In the child’s high-pitched squeak,
The boisterous energy of the youth,
To the deepened voice of the old.
I know not of your beauty.
But some of you have smooth skin,
Others are veined with light bumps,
I only feel the kindness emanating from within.
I know not what is night or day.
Dawn wakes me with chirpy birds,
And fading sounds welcome me
To the stillness of the night.
All around me I sense…
The anxiety hidden in hearty laughs,
The hurried steps rushing somewhere,
The perfumed sweat in a draft.
The joy, the despondency, the fears,
Everyone seems shackled, despite being free.
It amuses me, in my unhurried walk
When strangers feel bad for me.
And I often wonder, my dear friend,
Do you see what I see?