Did I foresee
or was it anticipation
I liked to imagine the worst that
could happen – perhaps
to disarm the future
remove the sting
inoculate
When it began
mercifully slowly
I was not taken by surprise
I had a plan to cope
wasted no time
learning how
to navigate
blindness
Routes I had
taken for granted
were walked with mindfulness
recording all the sensual input
paying least attention to
fading sight except as an
index of impressions
mentally mapped
I decluttered
my domicile of all
I wouldn’t need or
couldn’t trust myself to
do safely any more
books and tools
both were a
wrench
I kept what
I thought I might
manage – basic tools
just in case I found I could
and books someone might read
out loud to me if such an
one might be found
to share my
treasured
And my most
treasured – music
well listening would not
be a problem but I wanted
to make music, to sing songs
so set about learning favourites
by heart, words and chords
which laziness had always
mitigated against
before
Did memory
which is not a sense
nevertheless swell in
compensation or was it always in me
to perform differently and without
seeing my audience, stage
fright diminished so it
was not a total loss
– blindness…
© Andrew Wilson, 2026
Can anticipating the worst that can happen, make it easier when and if they do? What do you think…
This post is a twofer – I missed the deadline on “I’d Rather Go Blind” Melissa Lemay‘s prompt to us in Uncategorized, over at dVerse Poets Pub, and so I am posting it for Open Link #401 and February Live hosted by Björn Rudberg (brudberg). There is also an invitation and a link to the live event on Saturday at 10 AM New York Time. https://meet.google.com/kis-bmzs-ifc
To prepare for blindness would be a hard process of getting rid of things no longer needed… love the thought that went into imagining this.
Thanks, Björn, I do feel thay having anticipated the worst that can happen has made me more resilient – able to roll with the punches…
What a powerful meditation on how the mind adapts when the world narrows. There’s a tenderness in the question you end with. A moving piece.
Thanks, Marja, fortunately, this meditation has remained hypothetical (as yet)…
I can imagine it exactly as you have shared ~~~
Thanks, Helen, hoping to see you later…
Memory is a good compensation for blindness, if one had sight before going blind.
Indeed, Dwight, it is hard to imagine what the mental maps of those who have never been sighted might be like…
This really very good. A person with deteriorating sight would recognise every effort (hypothetically) made.
Best to rehearse these things in your head – just in case…
It was great hearing you read this!
And yours, Melissa…
This is so poignant ~ it must be challenging to prepare for and to cope with deteriorating sight..
It must be, Sanaa, and whether all my anticipation, just in case, would count for ought or nought, well, I hope is never put to the test…
Good to hear you read – it made a huge difference holding the microphone closer to your lips…
What an insightful poem. We have the choice of audiobooks now but I think listening does not do the printed word justice.