FOOTSTEPS

This poem was written after I read a Hearing Essay by  Musician, Motivational Speaker,  and Educationalist Dame Evelyn Glennie.

On Evelyn’s  website she  tells us that Deafness is poorly understood and that in general there is a common misconception that deaf people live in a world of silence.

She says “To understand the nature of deafness, first one has to understand the nature of hearing” . This poem is my interpretation of profound deafness in which I with poetic licence also try to highlight  the message given out by Evelyn.

FOOTSTEPS

You may not hear the footsteps walk behind you
But I know you feel the presence in your soul
My speech, maybe so close to silence
But the spirit of my voice is your control,
That leads each small vibration to the doorway, where your mind
Absorbs the aural energy and translates each spoken line.

So as I shape and form my words, I begin to realise
That sounds transmit emotions, and are written in the eyes.
Bared for all the world to see, naked on the sands
To be stored and reinterpreted by the clever use of hands.
That sign each vowel and consonant, to allow you to reply
With light hearted comments, to your friend who stands nearby.

Who understands each guesture and the emotions that they contain
So that the body’s feelings can be taken to a higher plane.
Where springtime turns to summer, life’s garden starts to bloom,
Excitement turns to energy and brightens up the room.
Our conversation dances with eloquence and flair
Without discrimination, but with tender loving care.

So that who we are is focussed on, not what we can and cannot do
Being judged by disability, is a myopic point of view
That’s destined to be abandoned, to be left and cast aside
Forever as the bridesmade, to never be the bride
Who stands proud at the alter with her family and friends,
She’s surrounded by the senses that lack of hearing, so depends.

Each footstep leaves impressions and raises questions on the way
But the common bond of love, we share, leaves a spiritual bouquet
That lifts the mists of misconception that those that cannot hear
Somehow are disabled and so, are void of new ideas.
That their value and potential remains forever undisclosed
But it’s all just an illusion and now the truth has been exposed.

Please click on Evelyn Glennies’ photo and learn more about this topic and read her Hearing Essay in full.

http://www.evelyn.co.uk/news.aspx

 

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