Two voices call from up ahead
Neither one is clear just yet
The words meld into one tone
One strong and high, one big and low.
You cannot know what either say,
Your hearing lost to younger days,
And the aid you had is now misplaced
It might not matter anyway.

The sound is enough for you to decide
The direction to bow or the way to fight,
Which opinion is right and which is wrong,
Whose holder is weak and whose is strong.
When you hear the small, high voice speak
You know to smile, you give a wink
And when you hear a voice big and low,
You stretch your ear because you must know.

And the mistakes you make because you can’t hear,
Sometimes vague and sometimes clear,
You deny and blame on someone else
Because you can’t acknowledge to yourself.
Where there’s a fault there may be more
So your own weakness you ignore
And with it that small voice is cast aside
Both casualties of your puffed up pride

Somewhere in your days far up ahead
I hope you remember these clear words the high voice said
All the fretting and fighting and placing of blame
All the energy you spent, it’s all been a waste.
The voice that could have made your name great
Was the strong, high voice you drove away.