DeafnessEditor’s Choice Lonely worldsPrejudged looks,Clanging swordsReading books.
Very staticMuffled wordsMissing music.
Lonely worlds.
An icy stareTearing through nooksHideous to bearPrejudged looks Made to affectNot made of oresDeafness effectClanging swords Coming throughGoing by looksDepending on fewReading books.
* * * This poem is titled "Thoughts about a Boy" and I wrote it in eight grade.
Pondering.
Wondering.
Could it behe likes me?
I don't know,I hope so. This one day,I went faras to say
"I like you"(and still do). No abuse, just amused
mixed with fright.
So that nightI ponderedand wondered
his strange mien
just might mean.
How I wish that the bliss
of having
and loving
him, a boy,
as a friend,
not legend.
It would buoyme so high
in the sky
if a clue
shows it true.
Note to you,I love youforever
and ever.
* * * This poem I wrote for homework in high school. Chitter here.
Chatter there.Talk is hereEverywhere,In church and mass,At work and class.
(This here rhymegoes with time.)
* * * I wrote this poem in high school about how a fly sees. I am a flyI can fly.But cannot seeSo easily.
My eyeballsAre many balls.
When I seeA stopping placeI go crazyFinding my place.
Many colorsInvade my eyes:Red, blue, yellowWhirling around I;As if to seeA room of TV’sWith ultravioletIn all the sets.
KaleidoscopesAre fun to see
But I preferA telescope In order to seeEverything afterAll I’ve been throughBut it can’t be true,Boo hoo hoo... * * * This poem I wrote in undergraduate school about politics in Waterloo, Iowa. Major McKinley lost his job“Oh my gosh, I’m not Boss?What am I doing to do?”Cedar Falls Major Mister CrewSaw in shock, thought with a sob,“I’m gonna miss you, too.” * * * This poem I wrote in undergraduate school and modified over the years of singing it.
I don’t want to scatI don’t want to rapI want to singWith melodyI want to ring with harmony.
* * *
A Ray of Light
I defined and refined the same idea.I elaborated and collaborated the sentences.
Spelling out the strategy helps to avert a tragedy!
* * * This poem is titled “Betrayed” and is a reconstruction of a poem I wrote in graduate school.
I was talking to Fred,When I saw him look beyond my headAt a person I’ve come to dread.She was my friend named DebBut I considered her friendship dead.My heart dropped like lead,I shook my hands and my head,And immediately away I fled.Here you have indeed readWhat I have often said: My life was in total shredsWhenever nearby she treads.
My face still flushes with redWhen I think on a particular threadHow she stole my man from my bedAnd the happiness from what lies ahead. * * * What Did You Say? Huh? Hmm? Eh? What?Give that another shot.What was that?I missed that.Repeat that.I didn’t get that.I beg your pardon, say that again.I’m sorry, run that by me again.Speak louder, speak slower.Excuse me? Pardon me?I couldn’t hear you,I can’t hear you.I didn’t hear you,I don’t understand you. * * *
Roses are redViolets are blueBorn and bredIn Waterloo
* * *
Jingle bellsWhat's that smellSpreading all the way?This odor business is a fartSpray it all away!
* * * A X-rated variation of "Deck the Halls"
Deck the halls with boughs of roses, x, x, x, x, x, xT'is the carol to be loving, x, x, x, x, x, x
Don we now our sheer apparel, x, x, x, x, x, xTo bring in the mating season, x, x, x, x, x, x * * * Reba Orton’s 2008 Happy New Year Rhyme A new year begins.It is not the end.Life continues anew.How reassuring true! * * * Reba's Ballad Life is very weary,Life is no cherry.Drink all the perryThat you can carryAnd stay merrySays this derry. * * * Lovers’ SpatI wrote this on September 26, 2007 after reading a book “Words”
She feels blueBecause the glueOf being trueIs undueTo the clueThat he’d sue.That’s her cueTo come unglued.It is her due.She still feels blue. * * * Reba's Poetic Prose Description Of A Beloved One The colour of the palest moonbeam is your skin,With the luster of twenty-four karat gold.
Your eyes are like clear topaz cut into many glittering facetsLike the fur of black pedigree poodles is your hairReflecting blue and brown tones as a diamond reflects light.A winter night under a clear moonlit sky, Snow and ice glistening everywhere, Are the images your appearance impressed in me. You, yourself, are like the clearest wine satisfying a life-threatening thirst,
After crossing a desert of scarce vegetation And endless sand without water.
* * * Unrequited Love Jolly fellow, Miserable meHe cared not how I cared much for him at all.Brown eyes loving look into my eyes, my heart, my soul.Hugging me, buoying me to the highest of the mountains, Casting me to the bottom of the sea by turning away.
My heart yearns after him,His heart yearns for another.I'm jealous of this other who so captured him.I'm angry that he believes in having only one love,I need all the lovers I don't have. * * *
Deaf poetry and other articles
"Stories and Poetry by Deaf and Hard of Hearing People" on Jamie Berke's Literacy Corner
Tom-Patrick Reed Hartman's poetry that he wrote in high school.