Going Blind

She sat just like the others at the table,
But on second glance, she seemed to hold her cup,
a little differently as she picked it up.
She smiled once, quietly. It was almost painful.

And when they'd finished and it was time to stand,
and slowly, as chance selected them, one by one, they left.
And moved through many rooms - they talked and laughed,
I saw her, She was moving far behind.

The others absorbed, like someone who will soon,
have to sing before a large assembly;
upon her eyes, which were radiant with sorrow and joy,
light played upon the surface of a pool.

She followed slowly, taking a long time,
as though there were some invisible obstacle in the way;
and yet, as though once it was overcome,
she would finally be beyond all walking, and fly away.