Wires and Strings

It may very well be that in our con­scious inner lives, the inter­play among our senses is what con­sti­tutes the sense of touch. Per­haps touch is not just skin con­tact with things, but the very life of things in the mind. –Mar­shall McLuhan

If I could just do this right now, I would know what to do next.

Though you are in the midst of some of the wildest coun­try in Amer­ica, and even though you may want to walk unac­com­pa­nied, you will be safe. You will be guided by a wire. There are wires on both sides of the path, and you can reach from one wire to the other in most places.–Dr. Alfred Etter, author of Aspen Braille Trail trail markers

I’ll just do this:

Fin­ger­ing pine and fin­ger­ing the word, pine.
This touch sep­a­rates, that rub breaks.
Each thing raised and capa­ble of sound.

Each thing as inti­mate as the mole at the cen­ter of my back.
The raised tail of the ani­mal that bur­rows under my skin.
I press my back against a wall and feel it press­ing back.

I know exactly where every thing is hid­den.
My fin­ger is attached to a string attached to tails and pine nee­dles.
In the dark I raise my fin­ger­tip and fol­low the sweet sting.