Response to “A Blind Woman” after the Class on 10.27

"A Blind Woman" by Ted Kooser: The Poetry Foundation

I am always surprised to find some marvelous ideas on the class discussing, and again this time. The idea about “power” and the transfer of power is really smart. It is known that blind people cannot feel the light. However, at the beginning of the poem, the light is compared to liquid, which makes the light can be felt by the blind woman. Actually, it is us, the normal person, that makes the transition. That is, it is “the world” that is looking at the blind woman. Nevertheless, the transition happens after the circus wagon showing up. The blind woman tries to stride forward. At the moment, she becomes the observer, but not “the world.” And here is a question, “how does the blind woman transition from being the subject to being the observer?” I think it thanks to her courage to walk the footsteps to walk to front. She gains the power as soon as she strides forward. Here, the blind woman and “the world” switch the role, and the blind woman takes the power back.

  Besides, "the metaphor of the circus wagon to explain the blind woman’s relationship with the world” is also a quite smart point. I never thought those disabled people are being stared at just like the animals in the cage on the circus wagon. I think it is awful. We should not regard them like that. They are  people like us. They need power, too. And I appreciate that Ted Kooser does not "feel sorry for them or romanticize them."