Blind

The library was closed and the Museum Gardens all locked up so I had to write this whilst sat on a bench in the garden at the back of York Minster. It was the fag-end of a sunny day and, apart from the Italian bloke talking on the phone right in front of me at a volume that suggested that he thought he should speak up if he were speaking to someone in another country, nothing much was bothering me. Not even blindness. Because, truth be told, I’ve never been blind myself; and yet, what if I was? How would I write? Well, in the beginning, probably much like this:

If I were nlind them this is what I would so: I s [it te t[s pf ,u fomgers pm the d

s,a;; dpts pm a cpi[;e fp

pf the leus )O#/. mpt sire wjocj pmes_ and O#d tri mpt tp re,e,ner ,

the fact that O#, ruomg tp tpivj tu]w As s[[,m as upi start tp tjoml anpit where the leus ae pi forget that upir fomgers a;ready lmw and start tp fprget/

them I’d open myu eyes and ru tpo lppl at the sdcreem )fprgettog tpfa;;u that O#’, n;omd and O kist camt dp tjat/ :ofe os saf ewjm upi [it upitdr;g om [;svrd ;lr yjod/ \oy#d ,ivj rsdort nmrom dohjyrf/

I;d ne netter iff

O nrong ,u fomgers nacl tp tje cemtre ,pre pfterm/ ;Lke at the start f every e

semtemce/ P

Pf raune at the end pf everut pme/

Heres the thing#p OI cam tue wjo;st ;pplomg at the screem/ Nut then I suppose OI se where O’m, gpomg wrong asn am ale to course correct./ wjawt am, i to do wotj ,uself wjtem all mu ssmses gp? O

O read tjos nppl pmce anpit sp,e lomd f a plant that made eveuome ;ose thoer semses ome ny one. I think it was something tivieal like the sense of smell that went foirst/ Popel were fome wot that Tjeu cpi;d adkist/ Tje semsse pf taste wemt mext/ Peop[;e /// O tjoml the [erspm om the nppl (pr was to a ,pvoe_ was a cjef pr a restaiamt pwmer and je jad doffoci;tu wotj tjos at first. as upi wpi;d o,agome/ Nit them [ep[;e adkisted tp that tpp/ TJe negam tp emjpu fppd for the texire and the heat pf the fppd/ Sofferemt tjomgs are rpimg pr s,pptj/ {it cross[s om a amdwocj and to foves a doffemet o,[ressopm tjam pme wotjpit/

Rje mext tjomg tp gp was semsatopm/ Dp that was doffoci;t for fppdoes/ it wjem upi tjoml anpit to. upi cam get mu we;; empigj wotj kist sogjt amsdearomg/ Wjem

Wjem jearomg wemt them people derw words pr dod sogjm ;amgieage.

O,agome a wpr;d them wotjpoit dogjt/

{w;e ;aod dpwm and doed/

<e/ O’, lkist [retemdomg tp ne n;omd/ Ot#s pronan;e not working.

Jappu daus.

Also, never trust a robot (see above). 😀