A Pocket of Air

written by Andrew Pettigrew

(member of Deafblind Scotland)

What is love?

To me, it’s the hand that touches mine,

that traces invisible letters,

etching light into my palm—

a language of silence, without sight,

creating a pocket of air

in a burning world

that shields me from its noise

and flame and rage.

In the inferno your hand is all I have—

light for my lightless eyes, guiding me

through smoke and ash and dizzying heat,

constant even as the ground gives way

and others abandon me for who I am.

You let me breathe and smile and be,

your signing the reason I don’t need to see,

your fingers a cradle, your touch a balm,

and that’s

all the love I need.