The Blind Poem by Rodolfo Martin Vitangcol

AS SALES TRAINER, I ONCE RECEIVED A CALL.
Caller asked:"Is this Mr. Vitangcol? "
I said:"Yes, speaking.How can I help you? "
Caller:"You conduct sales training, don't you? "

I SAID:"YES, WHEN DO YOU WANT TO HAVE IT? "
Caller:"This Saturday if you'll permit."
I said:"Whom will I train and how many? "
Caller:"The blind salespeople, they're thirty."

WHEN I HEARD "BLIND, " I CAN ALREADY BET,
these salespeople do sell sweepstakes tickets.
But my program is serious salesmanship,
not where you peddle at some corner strip.

CAME SATURDAY, IT WAS ALL A MISTAKE!
The products they're selling were not sweepstakes.
What they carried were the typical ones,
or should I say—those for the sighted ones.

FOR INSTANCE, THERE'S ONE INTO PENSION PLANS;
another, cell phones; others, insurance.
There's one who worked as telemarketer,
another as real estate broker.

ONE THING MORE THAT SOMEWHAT MADE ME STAGGER:
"They were superb as product presenters,
far better than their sighted contenders—
more confident, more sincere, livelier."

OH, THEY WERE NOT ASHAMED TO BE CALLED "BLIND, "
it's the word "disabled" that they did mind.
Have they been burden to other people?
Have they lived through others' hands, feet, and all?

THERE'S ONE I TOLD OF THE MOVIE I'D SEEN.
"Oops, I forgot you don't watch silver screen."
They're offended, openly declaring:
"We watch, too."I asked, "But how? " — "By hearing! "

THESE PEOPLE DID NOT MAKE THEIR IMPAIRMENT
as an excuse to cry and earn laments.
They competed in life with all their might,
as if their eyes were clearer than our sight.

HAVE YOU HAD A PROBLEM YOU COULDN'T BEAT
that you're willing to trade your eyes for it?
If none, may the blind uplift our spirit:
"Ditch all tears of self-pity, self-defeat! "

Amen!

Copyright © 2018
Rodolfo Martin Vitangcol
All Rights Reserved