Blind Contour Drawing

Pick up a pencil or pen
or if you feel abandonment
coursing through your hands
select a brush. Now without
staring at your sketchbook,
without checking for place marks,
without wanting to seek a similarity,
look hard at the other and begin to draw
the person across the room. Think
of your drawing tool as a hand
caressing each in and out. Don't
worry about where each eye is placed,
or whether the mouth is caught open
or whether it's in a grimace
or the lips don't meet.
Simply allow your hand to learn
another's face, the way your eyes meet.
When you're done, lift your pencil
and look. Be captivated.