Blind — Summary

Quiet residence in the back of the mind Ventured forward into the light, Into every thought in flight.

Pacing in circles around my awareness It’s the minds sight of you that blinkers all, Mental and physical vision divorce.

Every other sight is pointless And only one vision avails, To all others I am blind By you.

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Rachel Habraken's "Blind" is about being so consumed by one person that nothing else registers. The speaker describes a feeling that once sat quietly at the back of the mind and has now moved forward, spreading into every thought. It circles around their awareness and won't leave.

What the speaker feels seems to be a mix of devotion and tunnel vision. The "minds sight" of this person acts like blinkers, so that what the speaker actually sees and what they imagine pull apart. The poem calls this a "divorce" between mental and physical vision. Everything else becomes "pointless," and only one vision matters.

The last lines turn the idea of blindness around. The speaker isn't literally unable to see, but is blind to everything except "you." The mood is intense and a little obsessive, with the short, tight lines adding to the sense of a mind fixed on a single point. It reads as love, though it could also be a kind of captivity.

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