You Have to be Deaf to Understand

"What is it like to "hear a hand?

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be a small child,

In a school, in a room void of sound-

With a teacher who talks and talks and talks;

And then when she does come around to you,

She expects you to know what she's said?

You have to be deaf to understand.

Or the teacher thinks that to make you smart,

You must first learn how to talk with your voice;

So mumbo-jumbo with hands on your face

For hours and hours without patiences or end,

Until out comes a faint resembling sound?

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be curious,

To thirst for knowledge you can call your own,

With an inner desire that's set on fire-

And you ask a brother, sister, or friend

Who looks in asnwer and says "Never mind"?

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like in a corner to stand,

Though there's nothing you've done really wrong,

Other than try to make use of your hands

To a silent peer to communicate

A thought that comes to your mind all at once?

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be shouted at

When one thinks that will help you hear;

Or misunderstand the words of a friend

Who is trying to make a joke clear,

And you don't get the point because he's failed?

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be laughed at in the face

When you try to repeat what is said;
Just to make sure that you've been understood,

And you find that the words wre misread-

And you want to cry out, "Please help me, friend?"

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to have to depend

Upon one who can hear to phone a friend;

Or place a call to a business firm

And be forced to share what's personal, and,

Then find that your message wasn't made clear?

You have to be deaf to understand.

WHat is it like to be deaf and alone

In the company of those who can hear-

And ou only guess as you go along,

As you try to keep up with words and song?

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like on the road of life

To meet with a stranger who opens his mouth-

Ands speaks out a line at a rapid pace;

And you can't understand the look in his face

Because it is new and you're lost in the race?

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to comprehend

Some nimble fingers that paint the scene,

And make you smile and feel serene

With the "spoken word" of the moving hand

that makes you part of the world at large?

You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to "hear" a hand?

Yes, you have to be deaf to understand.