I'm a twenty-three year old female college student who is way too obsessed with Fanfiction!

I found this poem when I was doing research for my story 'Silent Words' and it really helped me. I thought I would share it with all of you.

You Have to be Deaf to Understand
by Willard J. Madsen

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 understand 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 patience 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 answer 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 to 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 in the face
When you try to repeat what is said
Just to be sure that you've understood,
And you find that the words were 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
On 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 you 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 you can only guess as you go along,
For there's no one there with a helping hand
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 a stranger who opens his mouth -
And 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 feel part of the world at large?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to "hear" a hand?
You have to be deaf to understand.