i haven't known where i'm going
since the day i was born
not knowing even the faces of those who shaped my life

what i am has forced me to carry on alone
to wander aimlessly
crashing into walls unknown to me
until it is too late and i'm on the floor again
i have never known the sunrise of a warm August morning
i have never known the beauty of a rose opening in early June
the cold kiss of winter on a woodenlandscape
the friendliness of trees-red, yellow, green, and orange

but i know who i am

i have seen the paths of others
i know the emptiness in which this world aches
like the stomach of a hungry child
i know all the brokeness-
broken homes
broken dreams
broken hearts
broken lives
for although i am blind
i can see far more than those around me
i have seen the excitement of first love
i have seen a family struggle to stick together
amidst the harsh stares of an indifferent society
i have seen the innocence of a child
and the cold kiss of a father who crushed it
the friendship of close companions
brought closer together by trajedy
i have seen through all the pretenses
into the human heart-but not without cost
for by its icy stare i have been blinded