Today I discovered I don*t hear very well when I am putting all my effort into reading, particularly words and music together. I knew this. It became particularly vivid during church this morning, with a whole selection of unfamiliar hymns. This began as a grouse about all the unfamiliar music. It wasn*t until halfway through that I gave it up and just listened. When we got in the car after church, my daughter started singing endless verses of a very familiar Easter hymn. No one could quite remember the words, but we did remember the Alleluias.
Today I learn more of what it is
To be hard of seeing.
It is easier to close my eyes entirely
Than squint to find letters and notes on the page
Through the shimmer
Of my left eye.
Unfamiliar hymns in church
Make it harder to see,
And so somehow,
Harder to hear
When I squint.
Odd
But the concentration
To bring things into visual focus
Makes my hearing worse.
Halfway through I decide it*s time
To let others sing for me.
I like to sing
But perhaps this Sunday
It is time for others to sing
In my place,
Sing so I can hear
Unfamiliar hymns in church.
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