The Blind Lead the Blind to Opposite Ends of the Universe
︎︎︎ Christine Hou
︎ May 9, 2023
There is an entire fist growing
Inside of you
Fit to scale
It opens and closes its fingers
At regular intervals
Opening and closing
Opening and closing
Your organs embrace the foreign object
Like a blind child embracing a sphere
For the first time in their life
There is never urgency when
The blind lead the blind
Only calm collectedness
2 boys and 1 girl
Position themselves in a
Circle of trust
The girl presses her left cheek
Against the western side of the planet
The boy rests his chin upon the northern hemisphere
And you—graze your lips over
The peaks and valleys of Europe and Asia
From west to east
How smooth is smooth?
Are your fingers touching land or water?
Does it smell of petrichor or oil?
Are you on the side of the fish or the side of the rabbit?
Inside of you
Fit to scale
It opens and closes its fingers
At regular intervals
Opening and closing
Opening and closing
Your organs embrace the foreign object
Like a blind child embracing a sphere
For the first time in their life
There is never urgency when
The blind lead the blind
Only calm collectedness
2 boys and 1 girl
Position themselves in a
Circle of trust
The girl presses her left cheek
Against the western side of the planet
The boy rests his chin upon the northern hemisphere
And you—graze your lips over
The peaks and valleys of Europe and Asia
From west to east
How smooth is smooth?
Are your fingers touching land or water?
Does it smell of petrichor or oil?
Are you on the side of the fish or the side of the rabbit?
Christine Shan Shan Hou is a poet, visual artist of Hakka Chinese descent, and author of Playdate, The Joy and Terror are Both in the Swallowing, Community Garden for
Lonely Girls, and “I'm Sunlight.”