Greg Field | For the Blind Boy Who Stole My Wallet | Poets Resist

Greg Fieldis a writer, artist, and musician living in Independence, Missouri with his wife, poet Maryfrances Wagner. He plays drums with the improvisational jazz band, River Cow Orchestra. His poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies to include New Letters and Chiron Review. His new book, from Woodley Press, is Uncertainties. He is a co-editor of the I-70 Review.

Poets Resist
Edited by Jemshed Khan
May 29, 2019

Greg Field

For the Blind Boy Who Stole My Wallet

Now comes the blind boy — dark glasses, stick, a red-tipped, tap, tap. The signal to all in the elevator to look to the ceiling or the dense face of the mechanical door. To the hum of lift, he adds his own — a non-descript tune, unobtrusive like his supple hands, pink, hairless mice burrowing, working fast, but working hard. When the car sings each arrival — like a box of loose bowling pins, we bump and sway, move out of the way. At the fifteenth floor, it is only the blind boy and I as he lightly taps goodbye. On the thirtieth floor, as I attempt to pay for a drink, I realize my poverty. I recount my ascent and then I race to the street where the fresh miracle smiles and waves as the bus roars by.