The Glasses

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What super power do you wish you had and why?

---

Me:
So this is the superpower?

Super-Me:
Yes.

Me:
A pair of glasses?

Super-Me:
You were expecting a cape?

Me:
At least something more dramatic.
Flight. Strength. Deliverance.

Super-Me:
No.
Just sight.

Me:
I already wear glasses.

Super-Me:
Not like these.

Me:
What do they do?

Super-Me:
They let you see
what people are carrying.

Me:
Their thoughts?

Super-Me:
No.
That would be theft.

Me:
Their secrets?

Super-Me:
No.
That would be intrusion.

Me:
Then what?

Super-Me:
The ache behind the anger.
The shame under the joke.
The loneliness dressed as competence.
The fear calling itself principle.

Me:
That sounds exhausting.

Super-Me:
It is.

Me:
Then why would I want it?

Super-Me:
Because the burdens are already there.
The glasses only stop you
from walking past them too quickly.

Me:
I’m not sure I want to know.

Super-Me:
You do not need to know everything.
Only enough to be kinder.

Me:
My wife seems to know this already.
She meets people and knows.
She just notices.
She hears the second voice
under the first one.

Super-Me:
Yes.

Me:
I sometimes hear only the first.

Super-Me:
That is why you asked
for glasses.

Me:
Would they help me see myself?

Super-Me:
Yes.

Me:
I was afraid of that.

Super-Me:
You would see
the places where you rush
because you are anxious.

The moments where you sound certain
because you feel exposed.

The old need
to be useful.

The quiet fear
that if you cannot fix it,
you have failed.

Me:
Could we take them off now?

Super-Me:
Not yet.

Me:
What else?

Super-Me:
You would see
that kindness is not softness.

It is not saying yes
to every demand.

It is not letting pain
run the room.

It is not confusing compassion
with surrender.

Me:
Then what is it?

Super-Me:
It is refusing
to turn a person
into the worst thing
you have heard about them.

Me:
So the glasses are not for seeing through walls.

Super-Me:
No.

Me:
They are for seeing through labels.

Super-Me:
Yes.

Me:
Not for reading minds.

Super-Me:
No.

Me:
For reading wounds kindly.

Super-Me:
Yes.

Me:
And the cape?

Super-Me:
Optional.

Me:
Good.
I never liked capes.

Super-Me:
Then keep the glasses.

Me:
Will they make me better?

Super-Me:
Only if you obey
what you see.

Me:
And what will I see?

Super-Me:
A world of people
carrying more than they can explain.

Me:
And what will I say?

Super-Me:
Sometimes:
Can I walk with you?

Sometimes:
No, but I am still for you.

Sometimes:
I am sorry. I missed that.

And sometimes,
when a reputation arrives first,
you will look past it and say:

I have heard about you.

And I do not believe
that is all you are.