on Saturdays we could hear
the blind masseurs tap their canes
down the sidewalk. At intersections,
they slowed down but did not vary
their stride. Always they walked
in pairs, the way eyes come in pairs;
the way they worked on our backs
as we lay in a room dimmed
with curtains, waiting to feel
the joints of the spine unclench,
every hidden knot a word
raised in relief on the page.