Things To Understand Poem by Jim Yerman

He cannot see a rainbow…for his world is painted black.
He cannot see the sunshine…though he can feel it on his back.

She cannot hear her mother's voice…they do their talking with their hands.
She cannot hear the music play…and we struggle to understand…

How this is even possible?
How did this come to be?
And what life must be like…for those so different than we.

So we attempt to comprehend without making too much of a fuss
And we try to share our world with them as they share their world with us.

And though we'll never truly understand what being them is like…
we begin to realize, despite our differences, …we are so much more alike.

And she helps us understand her language and and we help him understand the sun
and we think: if this is true for us…shouldn't it be true for everyone?

What if the things that make us different…instead of being feared or being banned…
What if the things that make us different…
are just different things to understand?