Day 435

What he wanted to do more than anything
when he could still see
was to build things:  houses, bridges, schools.
He would sit on the floor for hours,
balancing one block on top of another.  
At school, he was the one who built the sets
when there was a play.  At home, he made a shelter
so he and his brothers could play outside
even in rain.  Now there’s no house,
no school, no shelter.  Now there are no blocks
to build with, just slabs of concrete lying at angles
on unrecognizable streets.  He would build
a neighborhood, build a city, rebuild all the cities
if only he could. He sits in a tent, rain dripping steadily
through the rain fly.  Now that he’s blinded,
how will he see the way one board fits
against another?  Can his hands 
teach him the shapes of things?