Astonishing Nobody

And the best day was, she continued,
  the day I disappeared,
    astonishing myself.

I was what I saw, and became what I was not.

In a crowded room, I was white space.
  Nobody noticed.

In my car, the road drove through me.
  Nobody saw it driverless.

Out on the Common,
walking my dogs,
they were rounded up,
  as strays;
but they knew me,
as animals will,
  and heeled to disembodied whistling.

The High Street was best,
  she continued.
I waved at heedless friends,
stuck out my tongue
at heedless enemies,
was rude to a policeman
and stole a blind man's cane.

He didn't need it;
he saw me.
Then the game was up.

She shrugged at the memory
  and disappeared,
    astonishing nobody.

Linda Ewbank