Blind

 

Seeing yet unseeing,

I have passed through this world

as a blind man -

so sure of my way,

yet so clumsy of foot.

Do not take me by the hand.

I do not need your help.

I am led along

by the whisperings in my head.

Not knowing that the path before me

would lead only to my destruction,

I trudged on.

And on and on and on.

Do not tell me the way to go.

I do not want your direction.

I am led along

by another guide.

My dark comforter is my attendant.

 

Though this road is treacherous

and burdened by many obstacles,

still I am certain of my bearings,

still I march blindly forward,

not knowing the perilous passage

that lays in wait

like an opened mouth -

full of sharp teeth,

jagged and razor edged.

All the same

I will not heed your warnings.

My ears are deaf to your voice.

I will not observe the signposts

beckoning me to turn back again.

My course is set.

With what reckless abandon

I have given myself

to this constant catastrophe

of groping and falling!

Yet I will not turn aside.

Though this way be set ablaze

by the fires of hell,

I persist through the smoke.

 

And on and on and on I go,

blindly led along without objection

or regard to my destination.

My eyes have been seared,

my sight is blackness.

What is this burning in my chest?

What is this piercing in my head?

Where have you brought me?

And what is this tearing at my soul?

I trusted you.

I gave you my hand.

What is this ripping of my flesh?

What are you doing?

Your barbs bite into my body.

Your blade begins to empty my veins,

spilling my blood onto the thirsty ground.

You promised me life,

but I taste only death on my tongue

and the smell of it is in the air.

Where have you brought me?

What is this sound of wailing in my ears?

Is it not my own voice

joining in a tortured chorus

with countless others gone before me?

 

Oh, that I could trade

this blindness for sight,

and return from whence I came!

But it is too late for me.

The wailing grows louder

with each passing moment

as my sanity flees

and the life drains from me

giving drink to those who lie below.

 

Painting by James Smolko