Opinion pieces

Hephaestian Song: a poem by Blake Leitch

January 29, 2022

Blake Leitch
Blake Leitch
Man in an electric wheelchair wears a white shirt and looks out in front of a blue sky

The world looks different from down here,

looks so much larger from a wheelchair.

Eyes are higher and the sky is farther;

how much further Heaven and the Holy Father?

The products at the grocery store,

at this eyesight, are little more

than the market brands and left-behinds.

The good stuff is where common eyes line.

And so many bums: big and small

and twig and round; I’ve seen them all.

A lie to say no merriment,

but equal parts in detriment.

And from down here, it takes a time

to prove maturity is mine;

the cripple’s voice is second’ry.

A freak’s accord would your sense heed?

It’s not all good and not all bad,

but certainly a diff’rent world I've had.

The world is different from down here,

so much larger from a wheelchair.