<p><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">How wonderful the poem is to all of us who are blind or low visioned.&nbsp;</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Eileen Torow NFB member.<br><br>&nbsp;</p><blockquote><p>------ Original Message ------<br>From: ct-nfb@nfbnet.org<br>To: ct-nfb@nfbnet.org Cc: deb.reed57@gmail.com<br>Sent: Monday, June 9th 2025, 08:05 AM<br>Subject: [CT-NFB] Not blind enough<br>&nbsp;</p><div>Happy Monday!</div><div>Recently, one of our affiliate members, Allison Arbuckle, shared this poem with me. It is an experience that many of us with residual site in our journey of blindness have experienced. Here is the poem she shared:</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>From Dave Steel, The Blind Poet</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>\u201cHave you ever felt not blind enough?</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>Been told that you don\u2019t look blind?</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>As if the cane you hold\u2019s a prop,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>or truth is something they define.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>They see the way you turn your head,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>how sometimes you still meet a gaze,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>and question all the silent wars</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>you fight inside the dimming haze.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>\u201cYour eyes are clear, you\u2019re looking straight,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>you smiled before you took your seat\u2014</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>you joked, you laughed, you found your way\u2026</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>So blindness? That can\u2019t be complete.\u201d</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>But they don\u2019t see the constant strain,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>the way you memorize each space,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>how shadows steal the world you knew,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>how fog and fear have blurred each face.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>They never feel the stumbles made,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>the silent prayers with every street,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>the noise that swells without a frame,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>the panic dancing in your feet.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>They only see the parts that pass</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>for something they define as \u201csight,\u201d</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>not knowing how it shifts and fades</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>from morning glow to black of night.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>And so you\u2019re caught between two truths\u2014</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>not fully seen, not fully gone\u2014</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>you wear your courage quietly</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>while strangers tell you to \u201cstay strong.\u201d</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>But strength is found in every step</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>where darkness walks beside your day,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>in every time you hold that cane</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>though pride or doubt gets in the way.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>So if you\u2019ve heard, \u201cYou don\u2019t look blind,\u201d</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>or felt like you don\u2019t quite belong,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>know that your truth is yours alone,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>and living it is being strong.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;min-height:39.4px;"><br>&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>You don\u2019t owe proof to anyone\u2014</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>your story\u2019s written in your stride.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>There\u2019s more to vision than the eyes,</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>and more to blindness than what\u2019s spied.</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><strong>#TheBlindPoet\u201d&nbsp;</strong></p><p style="font-family:system-ui;font-size-adjust:none;font-style:normal;line-height:normal;margin:0.0px;"><br>&nbsp;</p></div><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Sincerely,</div><div>&nbsp;</div><p>Deb Reed</p><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Central CT Chapter President of the National Federation of the Blind</div><div><span class="wt_Email">Deb.reed57@gmail.com</span></div><div>Cell-860-378-5370</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>\u201cBloom where you are. \u201cFrom mother, Theresa of Calcutta.</div><div>&nbsp;</div></div></div><hr><p>_______________________________________________<br>CT-NFB mailing list<br><span class="wt_Email">CT-NFB@nfbnet.org</span><br><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org</a><br>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for CT-NFB:<br><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://nfbnet.org/m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