March 15, 2020
Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf was asked which of these senses she would rather have returned to her – if she had to choose just one!
She said “Hearing.” Her reason? She found lack of hearing the most isolating from people and the world around her.
I love this poem by Jane Merchant. While she did not have children of her own, she obviously understood little boys!
Noiseless
There are times when a little boy can be
As noiseless as a spider or a star.
Hearing his cowboy-loud hilarity,
You may not quite believe it – but there are.
I’ve seen one, who makes noise enough for ten
Especially noisy boys, sit silently
To memorize a nest-creating wren
With growing moss no quieter than he.
And it is hardly possible to divert
His listening from a tree-toad troubadour
Or woodland water running. Though some assert
That making noise is what a boy is for,
He seems most deeply boy, I’ve always found,
When he’s intently making not a sound.
