Some pictures are worth a thousand words

Some pictures are worth a thousand words
While others leave us perplexed
And for the blind, music will do
The deaf who cannot see are vexed
Or blessed perhaps to know a thing
By how it feels, quite literally
Whose eyelashes and fine hairs sense life
Along with fingertips and toes and chi

And here I’m moved by words received
That the deaf cannot hear or believe
And provoked by looks the blind can’t see
Sometimes misled by how I feel

And focus on these foolish things
Rather than vistas and sunsets
And symphonies and words of love
As if I prefer to be upset

So from here on out, I’ll close my eyes
Except to see the beauty around me
And close my ears except to hear
The wondrous sounds that sing to me

Though what beauty can be appreciated
Without being exposed to some contrast
And what song can be heard as divine
Without listening to the wine of the past

Perhaps the pure heart needs nothing else
To enjoy each moment it lives
Discerning in everything the best
That graciously life gives

So whether blind, deaf, or both
I’ll cultivate my heart
To see and hear what makes worth while
The blessings of life’s art

©12.22.16 ebn