When I Was Born They Thought I Was Blind

Hi! This year (2022), I’ve decided to share a poem on my blog and podcast and read it aloud. It’s all a part of my quest to be brave and apparently the things that I’m scared about still include:

My spoken voice
My raw poems.

Thanks for being here with me and cheering me on, and I hope that you can become braver this year, too!

When I Was Born They Thought I Was Blind

The bandages on my face keep everything dark,

so dark, and there’s nothing to figure out,

no doubles of things, no blurs of movement,

but I know I’m home again.

The world smells of pot roast gravy,

cigarettes, my mother’s Chanel

No. 5, father’s engine grease fingers,

and my sister’s coconut hair.

Strands brush my cheek as she puts me on the floor.

The carpet bristles against my knees and palms.

Fingers sink in. Home. This is home.

Again. I know this rug. I crawl forward.

“Will she be okay?” My father’s voice

squeaks so far above me. Mom says,

“It’s not like she could see before.

Anything is better than that.”

The shag warms my palms.

Cars roar on the nearby highway.

My mother’s heels click

across the linoleum kitchen floor.

Van Gogh said the sight of stars

made him dream. I dreamt before

I could see.

Maya Angelou spoke of the ache

for home, where we go

to be safe. I dreamt of that, too.

Hey, thanks for listening to Carrie Does Poems. These podcasts and more writing tips are at Carrie’s website, carriejonesbooks.blog. There’s also a donation button there. Even a dollar inspires a happy dance in Carrie, so thank you for your support.

The music you hear is made available through the creative commons and it’s a bit of a shortened track from the fantastic Eric Van der Westen and the track is called “A Feather” and off the album The Crown Lobster Trilogy.

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/eric-van-der-westen/the-crown-lobster-trilogy-selection

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