The other morning I was walking through Harlem -- on my way to teaching at The City College of New York and saw this poem by ee cummings written in chalk on the sidewalk. So I stopped to take a picture and a blind man swung into me and I said I was sorry as if I was fault. He asked where was I going and I said campus and he said I could walk with him the rest of the way, and so I did, and we talked about how walking was better than driving any day. All along I was thinking: what a strange, wonderful day so far and what does a blind man know about the thrill of driving a fast car? I started thinking of how he became blind, was he always? did he lose his sight in a car crash? was acid thrown on his eyes, turning them white, scarred, useless? Did he know I was there and bump into me on purpose? Why did he leave me with a "be safe" as if I was the blind one on the streets of Harlem? And who the hell wrote on that sidewalk: I carry your heart/I carry it in my heart. Anything strange and wonderful happening out there in cyberspace today? Truly, author of LIE |





