Poetry’s rolling definition in American Sign Language literature positions this genre as an unstable tool, adjustable for all things inclusive. In Signing the Body Poetic: Essays on American Sign Language Literature, edited by H-Dirksen Bauman, Jennifer Nelson, and Heidi Rose, the editors observe the earliest sign for poetry as a mechanism geared towards a hearing landscape. Bauman, Nelson, and Rose note: 

The original sign was formed by the signed letter P moving over the outstretched and slightly bent arm. This sign was originally derived from the sign MUSIC or SONG, which has the same hand movements and arm position but uses a flat hand instead of the signed letter P. That poetry is a form of verbal music served as the initial default setting that informed this sign; further, the substitution of the letter “P” for “poetry” indicates the alphabetic, scripted dimension of hearing-centered poetics. During the 1989 international Deaf Way conference, however, a group of Deaf poets expressed the need for a sign that would not be derived from MUSIC or from phonetic writing but would instead reflect the embodied nature of sign poetry. 1 

In this space, the initial sign caters to a world where the inability to hear warrants no agency. Literature is placed on an audible pedestal. Phonocentrism, the unquestioned orientation that speech and hearing are the only fully human modalities of language, 2 plagues this literary arena. Historical traces of this apathetic linguistic treatment appeared in local newspapers; for instance, The Wichita Daily Eagle printed the following lecture by Rudolph Hatfield on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1902 in a column titled Talked on Longfellow: Rudolph Hatfield Tells of Life and Works of Poet: 

The distinctive difference between the poetic and the non-poetic soul is simply in degree of sensibilities.

One walks out in the world, in attentive communion with the voices, forms, and colors about him; to him there is sweet converse in the rustling leaves, purling waters, swaying and sighing trees. Another passes amid the same suggestions, seeing not, hearing not—as one born sightless, deaf and dumb. 3 

Audism, “bias or discrimination against people who cannot hear or have difficulty hearing, or prejudice or hostility toward them,” arises from this toxic atmosphere. Deaf poets are creating revolutionary poems against this bigotry on the page and the stage. 

The five parameters traditionally used in American Sign Language poems are facial expressions, location, hand movement, palm orientation, and handshape. 

Rhyme

In Analysing Sign Language: Poetry, Rachel Sutton-Spence considers rhyme any repetition of one parameter or more. 4 Agatha Hansen, Valedictorian in the class of 1893 and the first woman to receive a bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet University, 5 intentionally creates rhymes aligned with sound to rupture violent impediments placed upon Deaf individuals. Hanson’s poem titled Semi-Mute compellingly reverberates every poetic phrase. The first two stanzas state:

A river deep of silence 

Either swells our souls around. 

Its tide flows and submerges 

The weaker tide of sound. 

Now memory flashes through us, 

Now lingers with us long. 

Sweet strains of vanished music 

Make up its haunting song. 6 

There is a hint of deserted composition. A gentle ripple rendered still. Lyrics that once held the reader above water, now baptize instantaneously through absence. Wanting to seek what can no longer be heard is religion at its best. Throughout this piece, we hold fast to memory, channeling verbal verses like psalms to hear sweet music once again. Synergy between AROUND and SOUND emphasizes this recurring musical tide. The rhyme schemes for both terms originate from common handshapes. To sign the word SOUND, the poet displays one enclosed fist with the dominant hand, stretches one index finger, and touches one ear. In the same manner, the term AROUND is created by forming one flat shaped O on one hand, developing one fist with one stretched index finger on the other hand while generating at least one circle around the flat shaped O with an inverted index finger. 

The second stanza unveils a poignant aftermath of residue that will not wash away. Sorrow remains a constant presence. Memory composes the tune that brazenly pierces the body. The rhyme scheme in LONG and SONG, derived from a shared location, underscores this whirlwind of repetitive grief. LONG is signed when the poet creates one fist with one stretched index finger and runs it along the forearm. Much like LONG, SONG is signed by waving one palm along a partially bent forearm. 

The visual, kinetic, and spatial energy of each line fuels each poetic movement of the body. The sensory experience in the lines connecting LONG and SONG are radical. The volume is high. Audible protests resound. 

The final two stanzas turn towards an optimistic approach. Haunting momentum is transformed into a mighty force. Hanson notes: 

Yet must we bear our burden, 

Yet must we walk our way, 

And slowly, surely build a work 

That will endure for aye. 

We can control the future, 

Can live or well or ill. 

Let us clasp hands and forward. 

There is no standing still. 7 

Forecasting a confident future over a foundation filled with pain propositions a unique perspective. Healing begins when we acknowledge emotional weight we own. Although comparable ASL signs “WAY and AYE” and “STILL and ILL” do not share the same handshapes, location, or movements, the terms interlock contextually. Difficult journeys reconstructed our “way,” remain an ever-present source of strength. This path is an advantageous art form built to engineer solutions. ILL is signed by raising one palm with a bent middle finger to the forehead while lowering the second palm with a bent middle finger to the stomach. STILL is signed with two turned down Y shapes on both hands. The ties between STILL and ILL bring about a constant state of return. In this mode, doors remain open to progressive contemplation despite the status of living well or with illness.

Repetition of Location 

The location of a sign’s articulation may be determined by the citation form (or basic dictionary form) of the sign because each sign must have its location parameter. These discourse factors determine where we place things in space so that we can refer to them and understand the relationship between the signs and their referents in our signing space. 8 

Deaf artist John Lee Clark graduated from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. He temporarily attended Gallaudet University. Clark became the first signer, Deaf, or DeafBlind to publish in Poetry magazine. 9 Clark’s Long Goodbyes impressively details alternative ways to part with family and guests in Deaf households. An excerpt of Clark’s poem is below: 

I miss all of the long goodbyes 

of my parents’ guests 

taking their leave by not leaving 

when it was time to go. Someone 

would sign 

Better go home we but hours would pass 

Around our round table— 

the bowls of our hands offering 

confession after confession 

assuring us that we are we— 

before anyone stands up. 

Then others, sighing, will stand up 

Slowly and slowly walk 

Through our house, pausing 

Where the walls offer stories, 

reasons to stay longer 

and touch more things with our hands. 

I remember how long, 

how wonderfully they stood 10 

Repetition of Handshape Patterns 

Handshapes can link ideas or bring out further connotations behind signs in the poem, often drawing on the emotional effects commonly associated with particular handshapes. 12 Deaf artist Curtis Robbins graduated from Gallaudet College in 1967. He taught computer applications and American Sign Language for more than thirty-five years. 13 Robbins’s DeafPoetorWhat? projects a series of tough and gentle qualities. The first eight lines of Robbins’s DeafPoetorWhat? state: 

They keep asking the same question: 

Are you a Deaf poet 

or 

A Poet who is deaf? 

I shudder at the question. 

I can’t even think of a better way 

to express the rhetoric. 

I’m lost. 14 

The questions raised throughout this piece are complicated. To ask a Deaf poet if they are “deaf or Deaf” in the world of this piece places the poet in a detrimental box. Furthermore, signing the term SHUDDER cues the strain and turmoil circling around this question. Sutton-Spence claims, “In general, the ‘5’ and ‘B’ handshapes, being open, are symbolically more ‘positive’ in connotation than closed handshapes, such as ‘A’ or ‘A’. Handshapes that are bent at the knuckles, such as ‘5’ or ‘V’ are associated with more tension and are ‘harsher’ than other non-claw handshapes, which are more relaxed and ‘softer’.” 15 The majority of the letters in this term are shaped along a cold tone. SHUDDER is created with an isolated closed fist for “S,” a stiff bent oval shape for “D,” and confined curved fingers for “E.” To understand unclear methodologies, we must first dissect the root of the chaos. Handshape patterns in SHUDDER offer a problematic prelude to an uneasy story.