Hallall. An intensely personal exploration from a "curious creature"; first published in F&SF—October, 1974.

In the Land of Unblind

                                    You know how it is

indown you close your eye(s) and let take

your self between a stumblecrawl and lazyfloat

                                    I mean when

you get past the rubbage really indown there's

no seefeeltouch not

the skinside upout way

blindbalance cannot tell if a touching is over

or under or on the feeling is inside your skin

                                    I mean

indown you know in the land of unblind the one

eyed woman is terribilified

no light

but the infires' flickerdimglow and

they all keep their eyes closed so

scrabbleswoop and stumblesoar fly

creep in fearableautiful nolightno

dark of ^.eacheveryother's infires

(No need to cover or to show

they canwilinot looksee

except the one-eyed me

I wonder what would happen if

a person took a light indown)

                                    Before

I opened up one apple-eye I too

flewstumbled graspgropegleaned

in holystonemaskhunger then

                                    one time

indown in that hell-eden innocence I touched

a man and he touched me you know the way

it happens some times later or before or inbe

tween we touched upout

                                    I mean

where skins can touch and some

place or other we remembered as

in the other we felt fate upon us

blindunblind future past which

                                    one is when

upout his openwide eyes full of hunger and

some kind of hate I tasting somehow hate

fulhunger over all the skins inside my mouth

I love you! he said

Witchcraft! I had to come!

You must come! Magic!

I love you!

                                    so

I came we loved our skins touched inside some

times almost remembering indown

                                    not quite then

oneanother soundless indown timestill blindun

blind I touched a man and touching me he spoke

words I c/wouldnot hear just scramblescared

                                    a way you know

                                    it happens some

time in betweenafterbefore when meeting upout

all our eyes and ears and mouths were open

I love you! he said

We had to come together!

Remember! he said beforewords-

I c/wouldnot

I love you

I said Witchcraft! all the skins inside my mouth tasting sweet sour terror as I ran he spoke

(again?)

Open your eyes! he said

One time (soon?)

indown still fearful

(fearful still for still I do

not open more than one)

I opened up my first indowneye seeing stir a

livesome ghost of memory pastfutureinbetween

that time I touched no man but

(then?)

one time

upout you know before or after

my first man was there (again?)

skinsight airvoice was all we

unshared how it waswouldbe to touch indown I

did not know he did not know there was indown

not to remember full of fear he went away but

(then?)

one time

indown one eye just-slit open in dimglowing

flickerdrift infires a man touched me and I

could see indown the face I touchedspoketo of

course he c/wouldnot hear

so

but

when

you know

we met upouteyes open all the hungerskinside my mouth turned sweet remembering beforewords

I love you! he said

Witchcraft! I had to come!

You made me come! Magic!

I love you! he said with words

but

he did not know echopremonitions stirring from under upoutskintouch he couldwouldnot premember how indown we touched his hunger fear soured all the skins inside my mouth I had to go

away

(again?)

one time indown I met a man with one eye

open like my own in flickerdim

infireglow seeing each how horribleautiful eachotherself fruit flower and fester touching so we spoke beforewords so

you know

the waysometime(s) you meet upout all eyes and ears and mouths wide open great new hungers pungentsweet

on all the skins inside remembering indown bebackwords neverquite to know which place time was wherewhen or waswouldbe we first felt fate upon us so

We love (we do not say) We had to come

Witchcraft! (we laugh) we love skins touch upoutside premembering sometimesalmost like indowntouchtalk still

and yet

I wonder

what it's like

indown for the two-eyed?