“From the foliage a whistling — people or birds?”
– Tomas Transtromer, Lamento
In Germany, the Public Radio reports,
One politician wants to make audible traffic signals
Sound like birds instead of a monotonic
Tick, tick, tick.
Another politician worries
That blind people will get confused
And follow live birds.
Can you imagine?
A hoard of blind people
Chasing a finch!
No, you can’t imagine
A hoard of blind people at all.
You know one blind man
And he is always lost–
Head down, eyes shaded
Careening toward all manner of obstacle.
Now your day is sidetracked–
You have to run across the street
To save him from that tree–
And he doesn’t even remember you from last week!
“You must be thinking of someone else” he says.
“Really, I’m fine, I don’t need your help,
but thanks anyway.”
Can you imagine!
You walk on to the bank noting
How exquisitely red the red
Sections of that Amoco sign look
In this low October sun
Humming to yourself
I once was lost
But now I’m found…