Pity The Deaf

who used to read the lips
of the people who talked to them
to understand what was being said,
whilst straining a deaf ear
to partially mishear what to them,
without all the sounds that were made,
becomes the sound of nonsense.

In these Covid 19 times,
when the public wear masks
to help each other 'stay safe'
when how they cover themselves
is of no agreed medical standard,
these masks cut the understanding
that the partial of hearing have
of knowing what is said to them
to know what to say back, to nothing.

When the deaf lead the deaf
which of them listens best
for where they are going?