Author: Anomarilius
This poem was inspired by a significant milestone in my Orientation and Mobility journey towards independence, that is, my first successful solo walk using my white cane. It was also an overcast morning so it diminished many of the visual cues I had gotten used to relying on which left me to navigate through sound, touch and trust alone. Although I began the walk with genuine apprehension, each passing moment challenged the assumptions that fear had built up over time.
Fear Factor
1
The morning cloaked the sky in muted light,
As anxious thoughts prepared me for flight.
My cane became the language of the lane,
Each measured rhythm dissolved another chain;
Until resolve outshone my hidden fright.
2
The cool dawn stirred the branches overhead,
While cautious whispers lingered where I tread.
I heard the cyclists whisper as they passed,
Their turning wheels a murmur fading fast,
Then silence settled where their echoes fled.
3
Each careful step gave confidence its place,
As steady rhythms settled into grace.
The path unfolded through my hands and ears,
Revealing strength concealed beneath my fears;
With every stride I welcomed my own pace.
4
Returning home, I knew what I had found,
Not through my eyes but through familiar sound.
The journey waited just as it had lain,
Yet I returned with something I had gained;
For courage walked where fear had once been crowned.
The Anomalous Press 