Welcome to

The Poem

IF THE WORLD WERE BLIND

©2001
by Karen Gedig Burnett

It’s too bad the world isn’t blind.

If the world were blind it wouldn’t matter what color skin a person had:

black, tan, white, red, yellow …

…it would matter only if their voice was kind and their touch was gentle.

If the world were blind it wouldn’t matter what nationality people were:

Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Iranian, Nigerian …

…it would matter only that they valued others and treated everyone with respect.

If the world were blind it wouldn’t matter if a person dressed in fashion

with fancy shirts, popular pants, and the coolest shoes,

or whether they had holes in their knees, dirt on their shoes, or a stain on their dress …

…it would matter only that they listened with their hearts

and truly heard what others have to say.

If the world were blind it wouldn’t matter if someone was short or tall, large or small,

had an athletic body or a potbelly, perfect teeth or a toothless smile …

…it would matter only that they were honest and fair.

If the world were blind it wouldn’t matter how people cut their hair,

or if they had tattoos, or wore jewelry on their ears or even in their nose …

…it would matter only if they can be trusted and that others feel safe in their presence.

Brown hair, curly hair, red hair, dreadlocks. Green-eyed, blue-eyed, cross eyed, glasses.

Moles, birthmarks, scars. None of this would matter.

We wouldn’t see them anyway. We would see only with our hearts.

Are they friendly, caring, giving, honest, gentle, respectful, thoughtful, safe?

This is what we would see … hear … feel.

Isn’t this what really matters?

It’s too bad the world isn’t blind.

The Format

	The poem, If the World Were Blind, is carried in a white wave which flows along the bottom of dark pages. If we truly were blind we would not see people, we would only hear conversations. The dark part of the page contains these conversations. Some of the dialogue is gentle and kind and some is harsh and cruel.
	Who are the people saying these words? What do they look like? Who are they talking to, or who are they talking about?
	Open the dark pages to reveal the answers. The colorful four-page spreads show people of varied styles, shapes, and ethnicities in many different social situations. There are five consecutive sets of these dark pages that open to four-page spreads. (Look at this book.)

The Message

This book is about looking past appearances to see the person underneath.

It’s about recognizing that personal qualities are more important than physical attributes

and it’s about treating people with respect.

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