“You’re hired!”
He delivered the good news to me the way a Supreme Court Justice hands down a favorable verdict, pounding the gavel. Truly, his decision pierced the sky, like lightning strikes followed by rattling thunder. I struck gold that day and ever since my face has gleamed with a smile brighter than the moon.
I couldn’t make out his face, but I remember his voice. It sounded upbeat, like tossing coins into an empty cup. I wasn’t homeless sitting on the street corner, but I was blind. How could a blind woman work at a library?
I wanted to work in a library ever since my mother carried me in her womb. She read me stories from the local library. She led storytime to a captive audience: moi. I was her first child. My birth came with surprises. I was visually impaired from birth, but what I lacked in sight, I made up for in the context of imagination. Our thought life is of inestimable worth. That’s why, working at the human library was so important to me. I don’t want people to be limited to the world of the seen. There is so much more to life than what meets the eye.
For years now, patrons have checked me out—not in a romantic way. They have listened to my stories as they would an audiobook, except I am alive—so alive. You can hear me pontificate about religion and philosophy or regale you with wisdom in the form of prose and poetry. I am hyperreal. I show a window into a new world. Sometimes, I sing and play guitar. Out of the depths of silence, a song emerges, like the scent of baked goods fresh out of the oven. Banana nut bread with chocolate chips warms the heart. It’s squishy like the feel of pudgy cheeks. I walk down the aisle of a marriage between science and art. Words are just the start.
Sometimes I think I am one crazy lady. What makes me so interesting? I am grateful for what I have, and I share from modest means. I hear the way other people read with clarity and intensity. Look me up. My name is Alem Tsehai. It means “Sunlight of the World.”
When you face the sun, the light is blinding, so I hear. So, close your eyes and come closer without fear.
A kiss from the universe is as precious as a flower in full bloom. Like rose petals, I, too, could fall at your feet. I am delicate and neat. I greet you and leave you in peace.
Best,
Yeru
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