I pull on a blue overcoat with silver buttons,
Open the door and head out, I’m ready at last.
I walk the streets in my new brown sandals,
Trying to wear them in, to avoid harsh blisters.
To ignore the rubbing, the complaints of my feet,
I watch the people, their faces, their eyes,
And try to guess who they are,
Where they’re from, where they’re going,
And why this is so.....

Some make eye contact,
Some stare straight through me, unseeing,
Others pretend I don’t even exist,
But I smile to myself and sing a little tune....
Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn,
An old blind man, leaning heavily upon a stick,
His clouded eyes have no focus,
“This fell off, I believe it’s yours,” he says,
Handing me a silver button.

I smile and thank him kindly,
He smiles in return,
“How did you know?”
I ask suspiciously.
With a toothy, knowing smile,
“I see all,” he says simply,
and with that,
He turned
And was gone....

I continue on, walking the pavements,
My feet gave up complaining
As I came to a corner
I stopped, to decide. Left or right?
Then I noticed a girl with no hair
Huddled in a doorway, playing a flute
Watching a woman dance on the pavement,
Gracefully, hypnotically, freely,
Moving in time with the tune....

I stood captivated by the dancing woman
The girl ceased her playing and smiled.
“A beautiful sound,” I say choked,
“Aah, but not all can hear,” she says sadly
nodding her head to the now still woman
“Yes, she be deaf, but hears all, and the beauty
through the ears, the smiles and the hearts of others.”
Putting the flute to her lips, she played on,
And as the notes fanned out, the deaf woman danced....

I smiled and after a few more moments,
I pulled my overcoat round me more tightly,
As a shudder ran down my spine.
Before I turned to leave,
The dancing woman spun around
Pausing for only a second,
She smiled and winked,
I laughed softly,
And headed home.