The man who had my office had it for thirty years,
but when I moved in thirty years ago,
all I thought about were the four high windows
and the trees beyond, which were red then,
and yellow, and gold. Blazing. Today
I was walking down some stairs, and an old woman
was walking in front of me, haltingly, one step
at a time, arm-in-arm with a younger woman,
a teenager, dark-haired and slim. They were talking
in low voices, and I only saw them from behind,
so I assumed the girl was leading, helping
the old woman down. But then they reached
the landing, and turned to leave, and I saw
I was wrong. The slim young woman was blind.