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I saw a homeless
beggar
On my way to work each day.
I never paid him too much mind
As I went along my way.
But this day he looked saddened
And his eyes began to weep
As he held his cup out pleading
To the people on the street.
I paused to ask a question,
“What virtue do you find
In begging coins from strangers,
Is it because your blind?”
“Blind?” he said, “How silly.
It is they, it isn’t me
Who cannot see the virtue
In simple charity.”
“Most people think I’m cripple;
Others call me blind,
So work they will not offer
To people of my kind.”
“No, I cannot see their faces,
Nor do I know their name,
But pity I have for them
For I can feel their shame.”
“They pass me by each morning
And again most every night,
Yet never stop to lend a hand
To a brother in his plight.”
”Their hearts are full of apathy
And little do they fear
That only for the grace of God
They could be sitting here.”
“I hear their footsteps pounding
As they go along their way.
All of them to busy to
Enjoy this lovely day.”
“They will not hear the flutter
Of the sparrows wings in flight,
Or listen to the love song
That it warbles through the night.”
“Nor will they stop to listen to
The music of the breeze
As it gently plays its’ harp strings
Through the branches of the trees.”
“No, I cannot see their faces,
Or the color of their skin.
I can only see the beauty
They possess from deep within.”
“So I view my brothers’ virtue
As a soul that knows no sin
If he’ll take the time to drop a coin
Into my cup of tin.”
In my haste, I left him crying,
For I had to catch a flight,
But the thought of him still plagued me
Into the long, dark night.
Long before the sun would rise,
I sat out on my way
To fill his cup with silver
So to brighten up his day.
But the pale moon’s light soon led me to
The place he occupied
Where an empty cup of silver lay
At the beggar's side.
His eyes were no more weeping,
Nor his spirit racked with pain,
For the Lord, in all his mercy,
Had called him home again.
As I knelt there next beside him,
In the dim light I could see
That the blind man I’d been praying for
Was no one else but ME,
My heart became so heavy
And my eyes soon welled with tears
As I thought of all the needy
I had passed by through the years.
‘’Twas then I made a promise,
Though I knew not where of when,
Should a brother ever need me,
I’d not pass him by again.
The night, now seemed so endless,
As the time was only three.
As I cursed the dark around me,
A light soon came to me.
I understood his message now,
And changed my life would be,
For only through a blind man’s eyes,
Would I begin to see.
Written by Virginia Haefner Wark
©2006 Virginia Haefner Wark.
All rights reserved. Do not copy without written consent from
Virginia Haefner Wark.
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