It’s a relief to drift past lovely things that exclude me.
It would take a machete to open hedges of flaming xora,
a bolt cutter to reach jasmine, blindness to miss red flags,
though the ocean looks open, smoky blue, and gorgeous;
and vanity to intrude on neighbors, who stand face to face
near the door of our building, blessedly unaware of me,
one speaking, the other stricken with sympathy.
- Miriam Levine (first published @ On the Seawall)