Blind Date Poem by Karina MacRae

The towel station was where I worked
In the retreating, golden days of summer
Which is where we met.
He was soaked to the bone
Just having come from the sea
He staggered when he walked,
And his sunglasses sat perched
On the end of his nose.
He wore those glasses
Two days later on our date,
On our walk through the park.
He held my forearm as we walked.
I didn’t say anything
About this abrupt intimacy
Because it made my stomach flutter.
He looked around a lot
And kept saying, “Everything looks beautiful.”
At sunset
When we were about to say goodbye
He asked if he could kiss me
And I nodded.
He did nothing for a few long seconds
Then asked again.
I said, “Yes.”
And before he did
He took off his sunglasses.
His eyes were closed
And after he kissed me
He opened them.
I expected them to be green
But I couldn’t tell
From the layer of film covering them.
Blind, in every sense of the word.
His unseeing gaze bore through me
And I couldn’t speak.
He touched my wrist lightly
And said, “You’re beautiful
I want to see you again.”
Then he left.
And I was left there
Thinking that I didn’t want to see him
If he couldn’t see me.