Friday, September 14, 2012

ASL Poetry

Last week, I shared a video, and I'm back with more videos this week. American Sign Language Poetry is visual, so you have to see it:





The trailer for the film Deaf Jam



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Remember the Summer Poem Swap? I am having a one-time Winter Holiday Swap in December. Participants will send their designated swappee a poem, plus a little gift (tea, coffee, something handmade, something pretty, something whimsical...up to you). If you'd like to join in and haven't told me so already, email me: tabatha(at)tabathayeatts(dot)com.

Diane is our Poetry Friday host today.

12 comments:

Diane Mayr said...

I love seeing the facial expressions that add an additional emphasis to the signed language. Thanks for gathering these clips.

Anonymous said...

OMG! That was gorgeous! This was a revelation to me. As i watched it, I kept thinking of performance poetry (whose correct term slips me at the moment)...the spontaneous and feeling poem. And yes, ASL brings imagery to the poetry, the emotions translated from the movement of the hands and the poets expression is wonderful. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad I took the time to go around some of the poetry friday posts. :)

HWY said...


Fascinating "visual" poetry.

The Dew on Spiderweb really blew me away. It was really poetry in motion.

Author Amok said...

I loved Deaf Jam. What a beautiful piece. Thanks, Tabatha.

Joyce Ray said...

Tabatha, WoW! I have never witnessed ASL poetry before. You have definitely helped me push beyond the boundaries of language with these clips. I loved the performance of Dew on Spiderweb. The images were so clear, the motions were their own poem. I teared up at the mother's poem - such wisdom and earnestness. And I loved seeing the young people jamming with poetry. Thank you for this experience!

jama said...

My first time seeing ASL poetry too. Wow! Loved the first spider poem -- she had me mesmerized. Thanks for always expanding our horizons :).

Linda B said...

Finally I had time to really 'see' your post Tabatha. Thank you for this. There is a fairly young woman in the dementia unit who gets so frustrated because she is also deaf. I have made some connections with her & will share these with her. I have been told she is losing some of her signing & there is a visitor sometimes who signs with her, plus a daughter, but still not much time to communicate for her. I loved, like others, the spider web poem.

Katya said...

When I was in college, a deaf housemate taught me an ASL pun.
I taught both of my kids a little ASL when they were babies. The oldest really took to it and we both learned "Eensie Weensie Spider" in ASL. I've always been fascinated with a visual language.
The ASL poetry is amazing.

Heidi said...

Thanks, Tabatha--really timely. At the same time as I was posting the poem built on the sign language spelling for "silent", Daisy was at home, independently starting an online ASL course. (Funny how things converge.) I too learned a lot of ASL in college from a deaf patron at a pool where I lifeguarded, and what I always enjoyed most was how sign language was WORDS + DANCE. I'm happy to see that ASL poetry is getting some airtime.

Mary Lee said...

Wow. Just...wow.

Ruth said...

Very, very cool. I'll never forget the first time I saw a large group of deaf people together, and the way they communicated was like dance. Amazing.

Tara @ A Teaching Life said...

another wow from my corner. This was like watching an especially personal ballet of facial and hand expression - so arresting. Thank you, Tabatha!