Unmet [edit4]

[dukealien]

Edit 2


Unmet

While sidewalk-biking home I met a man
or did not meet - the man I saw was blind.
He crabbed along, each twisting step a find
of safety when and if his faith outran
the sweep and scrape of slender, questing cane
striped white and red, antenna of an ant
dark glasses first suggested.  Adamant
he scuttled, grim-set jaw rejecting pain.
I hopped the curb and rode past in the street:
did he hear clicking sprocket, whispered tires
and make of us a pair of witting liars
who passed on by, pretending not to meet?

---

Thanks for the fine critique, @Alic Eliot!  You convinced me to rip out L7-8 and rebalance them; they just weren't working.  Hope the short enjambment isn't too abrupt.

Frankly, I'm a bit taken with the closing quatrain.  Aside from its loopy inner couplet rhyme (which depends on regional pronunciation), the poem was headed toward a sonnet but seemed not to need another two lines.  Critics who don't get the evaded social transaction there seem to get it in the end, so stet for now.

Thanks again!

Edit 1

Unmet

While sidewalk-biking home I met a man
or did not meet - the man I saw was blind. Nice intriduction, clearly identifies the characters and their relations.
He crabbed along, each twisting step a find
of safety when and if his faith outran “when and if his faith outran" does this mean he doesn't entirely trust the cane? 
the sweep and scrape of slender, questing cane
striped white and red, antenna of an ant. Very nice comparison there, well thought out.
Black, bulging goggles also helped to plant
this likeness; his set jaw rejected pain. Did you mean his likeness, or were you carrying on the ant comparison?
I hopped the curb and rode past in the street:
did he hear clicking sprocket, whispered tires
and make of us a pair of witting liars I don't see how you riding past made him a liar, but maybe that's just me.
who passed on by, pretending not to meet? These last four lines really hit home with me.