Donny

No one can tell me for certain
That the raindrops aren’t
Twinkling  back messages
Only the boy can understand.

They seem to enjoy falling
On the visored hood of his
Rain jacket. They
Leap onto his shoulders and
Dance down his arms.
He raises his hands to them.

He cannot hear them
Pat  his hood,
Drum the metal roof behind him,
Or plop onto the pavement where he stands.

His hands make shapes
That fit perfectly between
His raindrops.
The shapes make pictures
On a silver canvas.

The rain falls and dances,
Twinkles then splashes around him.
The boy smiles and
Paints pictures in the air.
He tilts his face toward the
Clouds and they
Drench him with splishy kisses.

ASL Lullaby?

Kim Stafford asked me what a lullaby might look like in American Sign Language.

Before I assign this to my class, I thought I’d throw in an attempt of my own. I know that most of the students will blow mine away, since they are native signers and have a library of incredible descriptives at their fingertips. My expression is stored in my tongue and comes out with all of these little polluters: prepositions, articles, verb endings and other little clouders of pure conceptual thinking. Those details aren’t absent in ASL, just more subtle: an arc of the eyebrow, a nose crinkle, a curled lip.

This is the first thing I’ve “written” on my fingers first, then interpreted into English.

All is quiet, time to sleep;
Close your eyes,
Baby sweet.

The stars are twinkling out in space;
The moon is rains sapphires on your face.

The wind is blowing the trees around;
The grass bends over on the ground.

All is quiet, time to sleep;
Close your eyes, baby sweet.

Outside the door, the future waits;
But you’re safe inside from indifferent fate.

Joy and grief, peace and strife,
Breath and Death: your little life.

All is quiet, time to sleep;
Close your eyes, baby sweet.

Your pillow’s soft, your blanket warm;
Love will rock you in her arms.

All is quiet, time to sleep;
Close your eyes, baby sweet.

(Video coming soon…)

Agreement

Sturdy nouns,
Like The Moai
Of Easter Island,
Stand oafishly, awkwardly.
Names remembered,
Definitions forgotten.
Weathered wood,
Burning spices
Proper, concrete and ideal.

Delicious verbs,
They promise and promise.
They smell like rain,
Steaming, pink and juicy,
Like steaks, rare and
Tender. Springing
With abundance, like
Stars and beetles,
Nectar and wild cinnamon.
Active, demonstrative,
Driven by Time,
She coaxes her Nouns
Into life.