I Am Thinking: Are You?

I Am Thinking: Are You?

When I walk through town
I think on large topics,
Mortality,
Vulnerability,

I am practical too,
Concrete as pavement,
More so than usual, 
I obey the rules
Sticking to the cross walks
Using the walk signals
Making sure
Drivers know that I am there

Lacking experience, I still guess
at reflexes
And abilities
What can a driver see
When it is rainy and dark?
How quickly they can stop
On squishy snow,
Coming down faster than wipers or plows
Can push it away?

I consider brakes, tires,
And, above all, the massive weight
Of a car.
My motto always
"Better safe, than flat"

Sometimes,
In a cross walk I will watch a car
Flash past.
There is almost always
An acceleration,
An acknowledgement of sorts
Last minute realization
That I am there
Embarrassed exit, like a cat
Leaving a tumble of
Books or dishes brushed from a shelf
As if speed would hide the transgression.

How can they know
That I can not see
Whether they are distracted
Tending a wailing child in the back seat,
Reaching for a lost item in a purse or back pack,
Or on the phone

As they race by,
In their three thousand pound
Bubble world,
Mind on the destination ahead,
The other task at hand,
How can they know
That I can barely see
At all.