In the land of the damned with thick skin like bark
The children were jeering a boy in the park
Blind in one eye from the day he was born
It was common for all one-eyed boys to be scorned
Hector cried from the children's cruel rejections
And on top of that he had no depth perception
They spit in his face and they gave him no pity
But that was the way kids used to act in the city
In a city without pity no one cries many tears
And they always express way too much of their fears
Through their anger which never gets bottled up inside
While they gradually develop a tough enough hide
Now, Chino was blind as a bat
He had little or no use for a map
To a city of light in which his sight was his touch
And the children all loved him so much
The extent of their love was eternal
Growing out like a seed from a kernel
In his presence they would be very nervous and faint
For Chino was revered as a saint
And Hector loved Chino so much
For Chino had such a refined sense of touch
He could pick a lock in the light of the moon
And help all his friends rob the neighborhood's rooms
They would cut him in for a part of the take
Take him out! Live it up! Buy him steak
To people with vision robbers all look the same
But none of his victims suspected the boy with the red and white cane
Life was smooth for his partners in crime
With Chino they never feared facing time
Their heists worked as smooth as a wheel and a cog
And with the loot they'd bought Chino a seeing eye dog
One night on the fourth of July
One-eyed Hector was so lonely he cried
He wanted to go out that night and play
But he didn't want to go alone to the fireworks display
Now Chino felt sorry for Hector's great sadness
And, perhaps to atone for his badness
Chino went with him out to the old fairgrounds
Even if only to share with him the exploding sounds
The tension in the air rose a full latin mile
The brilliant display shone upon Hector's smile
A rocket shot up like a drunken old fly
And it came down and put out Hector's only good eye
Hector and Chino strolled home hand in hand
Two sad saints negating an unseen land
Misfortune is strange: It can make people wise
When they find out that if God is love -- love is blind