When I Write Poetry
By Quinn Burch, New York H&V
My heart is a Castle in the Air guard towers, invisible moat, nonexistent the gate, only wind and water. is it any wonder, then? any foreigner who pleases is granted entry.
I’ve been writing poetry since I was a young girl. My first poems were long, repetitive poems with no organization, structure, or any of the more formal literary techniques I use now. As a girl, I used poetry as a journal: a way to express my frustrations in free verse. When my sister and I fought, I wrote a long, monotonous poem wondering why she’s better than me, why mom loved her more, (I know mom does not love her more, that was just what I felt in my ten-year-old mind), and why we couldn’t get along. I also wrote a poem where I repeated the line: someday, my prince will come (yes, inspired from the Snow-White theme song).
Being a deaf poet, a deafblind one, or a disabled one is not impossible. It happens, just as there are deaf musicians and blind athletes. There is a group on Facebook known as Deaf Poets’ Society, and some of the poems posted by members of the group are beautiful and flow well. I did a paper for my poetry writing class on an anthology of poems called “Christmas Blessings and Other Poems” by a deafblind poet, now deceased. His name was Robert Smithdas.
As a general rule, people who are profoundly deaf tend to write in a syntax resembling the patterns used while signing American Sign Language. The exception to this rule happens when people become Deaf later in life, or at least, as was my case, they were not born deaf. I was born hearing and learned to talk before I became deaf. I possess the ability to sound out words in my head, which I guess is what others, such as Robert Smithdas, did, too. Writing also helps those who are deaf retain fluent English writing skills if they are avid readers. I can’t remember ever not having my nose in a book, and as a result my vocabulary is extensive.
I majored in English in college and minored in writing. I took a lot of writing classes: writing fiction, creative writing, prose writing. All I can say is that writing poetry has been a great outlet for me when I am stressed and brimming with emotion. Also, poetry can be very therapeutic. Instead of slamming your fist into the wall, or God forbid, into another person, simply channel your anger into a poem. This can be done whether you are deaf or hearing. You don’t need to be able to hear to write poetry. I believe deaf children should be encouraged to write because the more they read and write, the better their overall grammar, spelling, and English usage is going to be. When I write poetry, I don’t think about the fact that I’m deafblind. I’m just an ordinary girl who is good at writing and enjoying it. ~
H&V Communicator – Summer 2021