exampleswher

epeopl
ear
erewar
dedf
orobedi
enceandpuni
shedf
or
dissent
.

Appl
i
cat
ions

1.Wri
teapar aphraseofthi
spoem tobri
ngouti tsmeaning.
2.Documentt hi
spoem.Addagl ossary(di
ff
icultwordsandterms
par
aphrasedandexpl ai
ned)
,ci
tethispoem (asitiswi
thinthi
sbook)
,
andci
tethebooki tsel
f(abi
bli
ographi
calentry).

Fr
om ‘
Disabi
l
ityandPoet
ry:
AnExchange’

Jenni
ferBar
tl
ett
,JohnLeeCl
ark,
Jim Fer
ri
s,andJi
l
li
anWei
se

Jenni
ferBar
tlet
t(b.1969)isanAmericanpoet,wr
iter
,anddisabi
lit
yacti
vist
.
Shehasco-ediedBeaut
t yIsaVer
b:TheNewPoet ryofDisabil
it
y(2011),
consi
deredaground-breaki
ngcol
lect
ionofdisabi
l
itypoetr
yandessay son
di
sabi
lit
y.Hermostr sAut
ecentbooki obiogr
aphy/Anti
-Aut
obiography(2014).

JohnLeeCl ark(b.1978)i
saDeaf Bl
indpoet ,essayi
st,andindependent
scholarfr
om Minnesota.Hehaseditedtwoant hol
ogies,DeafAmer i
can
Poetry(2009)andDeafLitExtr
avaganza( 2013).Hislatestbookisa
coll
ecti
onofessay scaledWher
l eISt and:Ont heSigningCommuni tyandMy
DeafBli
ndExperience(2014)
.

Jim Ferr
is(b.1954)isanAmer i
canpoet ,
per f
ormancear t
ist
,anddisabil
it
y
studiesscholar
.Heistheauthorofsev er
al booksonpoetryanddisabili
ty.I
n
2004, hi
scoll
ectonofpoemsHospi
i talPoemswaswr it
teninmemor yofhi s
chil
dhoody earsspentinhospi
tal
s.Hisgr oundbreaki
ngessay,‘TheEnjambed
Body :AStepTowar daCrippl
edPoetics’,
appear edinTheGeorgiaReview
(2004).

Jil
li
anWeise( b.1981)isaplay
wrightandpoet
,whoboldlyexploresthemes
l
ikedisabi
li
tyandsexual i
ty,
ascanbeseeninherfi
rstpoetrycoll
ecti
on, The
Amput ee’
sGui detoSex(2007).HersecondbookofpoetrywasTheBookof
Goodbyes( 2013),whichwasawardedtheAcademyofAmer i
canPoet s.Her
playshavebeenst agedattheNewYor kandMassachusett
st heatr
efest i
val
s.

Theconv ersat
ionbel
owhasbeenexcer pt edf orthepurposesoft hi
sbook,
andfeaturesthesepoetsspeakingaboutt hei
rwor kandi t
sr elati
ontothei
r
di
sabil
it
ies.Theyhighl
ightabledpeople’slackofi nsightwheni tcomestothe
art
ist
icl
ivesoft hedi
sabled,anddr awattent i
ontot heprejudiced
assumptionsmadebyabl edanalystsandwr i
tersalikeaboutdi sabl
ed
peopl
e’srelati
onshi
pwi t
hbeaut yandaest hetics.
 *
***
***
***
**

JohnLeeCl ark:WhenIst art

edwr it
ing,myproblem wast hatIwasn’t
consciousenough.Asasecond- generati
onDeaf Bli
ndmanwhogr ewup
exposedt oAmer i
canSignLanguage( ASL)storytel
li
ngandpoet r
y,Ishoul
d
havegonest r
aighttothoset reasur i
esandlootedt hem formyEngl ish
products.Ididn’t
.ThiswasbecauseIwasal soexposedt oablei
sm and
audism inEngl i
shli
terat
ure.Engl ishpoetsareespeci all
yfondof
romant i
cizi
nganddemoni zi
ngbot hdeafnessandbl indness,equati
ngthese
withsil
enceanddar kness—anddeat h.

Mygutr esponsewast oprot

est .If,forexample, t
heywaxedpoet i
cabout
birdsongt oemphasi zehowt erribl
ei tmustbet obedeaf,Iwouldwriteabout
howourl iv
esar efullofmusici nmot i
onandhowbeaut i
fulASLis.Later,whil
e
assembl ingDeafAmer i
canPoet r y
, Iwassur pr
isedtoreadsomanyDeaf
poet swriti
ngt hesamet hi
ngs, allthewaybackt oJamesNack.I nhisni ft
y
1827poem ‘ TheMusi cofBeaut y,’theDeafspeaker ,l
uxuri
ati
nginthev isual
glori
esofnat ureandt hecharmsofhi sblue-eyedmaid,says,‘
Ipit
ythosewho
thinktheypi t
yme. ’Hegoessof arast ojeeratheari
ngpeople’s‘
mar bleeyes.’
Whatamar velousbegi nni
ngt oDeafpoet r
y!

Sincet hen, t
hough, protesthasr emainedt hepr i
marymode.Per hapsi t
’s
becauseDeafpeopl e’sculturesandl anguagescont i
nuet obemar ginal
ized.
Pr ot
estisawor thy ,
logi
cal response,buti tcanal sobel i
mi ti
ng.Insteadoft he
fullrangeofourr eali
ti
esandi maginati
ons, wegetdr awni ntoargument swe
didnotchoosef orour selves.Forexampl e,‘v
isual music’and‘ ASLi sbeaut i
ful
’
aret hetwomostcommont ropesinDeafpoet r
y,worki
ngt ocount eraudi st
not i
onsofdeaf nessandmut eness;meanwhi le,i
nreallif
e, Deafpeopl eare
busycooki ng, v
ideochat ti
ng, texti
ng,dati
ng, raisi
ngfami l
ies,andmaki ng
transactions, notal lofthem legal.Ir
ealizedt hatIneededt owr i
tebey ond
thesear gument s, nottoleav ebehindourcausesorobscur emyi dent i
ty,but
toclaim mor eandmor espacei nwhichwecanj ustbe.

Jim Ferr
is:Di
sabil
it
yisdangerous.Werepresentdangertothenor
matewor ld,
andr i
ghtl
yso.Disabledpeopleli
vecl
osertotheedge.Wear emorevulnerable,
orperhapsitist
hatweshowourhumanv ulner
abil
it
ywithoutbei
ngableto
hideiti
nt hewaysthatnondisabl
edpeoplecanhideanddenyt hevul
nerabil
it
y
thatisanessenti
alpartofbeinghuman.

Butthereissomet hinggl
ori
ousi nbeingconsideredsoodd, somar gi
nalto
soci
ety.Disabil
itybri
ngswit
hitawonder f
ulrangeofr emar kabl
eandpower f
ul
vant
agepoi nts.Iti
ssomucheasi ert
oseewheny oucangai nal i
tt
ledist
ance,
ali
ttl
eperspect i
ve.Someofwhatweseei speculiart
odi sabil
it
y,as
suggestedinSt ephenKuusi
sto’s‘Harvest
,’i
nwhi chthespeakeradmi res‘the
whit
emoonoft hemor ni
ng,
/ev enifmyey estellmet herearetwomoons. ’
Butmostofwhatweper cei
veisn’tpeculi
artodisabil
ity
—i t
’speculi
arto
humanl i
fe.Andt hat’
swhatweneedt obewr it
ing.
We.Ipr esume,Iclai
m an‘us,
’eventhoughtherearemy ri
adwaysof
embody ing(anddeny i
ng)di
sabil
it
y,andnotwodi sabl
edpeople’
sexper
iences
arethesame.Di sabledpeopl
earewel l
schooled,whetherimpai
rmenti
s
acquiredearl
yorlate,toi
denti
fywithandaspiret
obeasmuchl ike
nondisabledpeopleaspossibl
e.

Butifwedon’
tclai
m ourdiff
erence,i
fwedon’twr
it
edisabi
li
ty,
thenormieswi
ll
keepdoingi
tforus.Iti
scruci
althatwedon’
tkeepleavi
ngthefi
eldt
ot hem,
evenwhenwel ovethem.Evenwhent heyt
ell
usit
’sforourowngood.

Il
ov eJohn’sdesir
e‘toclaim mor eandmor espacei nwhi chwecanj ustbe.
’
AndJennifer’
spointthatidenti
tiesarealwayscompl exandv ari
ableiscruci
al.
Who‘ we’areisalwaysshi f
ti
ng.Isdisabil
i
ty,orwhiteness, ormalenessmost
sal
ientinthi
smoment ?Orpoet ness,vegetari
an-ness,musi ci
an-ness,oron
andon?Idon’ tdemandt hatpoet r
yoranyot herartform ser v
eut i
l
itar
iangoal
s,
howev erl
audabletheymi ghtbe.ButIdowantpoet ry,i
ncludingmyown, to
openthewor l
d, t
opayat tenti
ont owhatis,withoutgett
ingst uckthere.

Iturntopoetryt
ohel pmet othink,
tofeel
,toper
ceive.I’
m notsur
eifIcoul
d
writ
el ongenoughtolistal
lthepoetswhohav ei
nf l
uencedme.ButifIcan
givereadersandli
stenersalit
tl
ediffer
entwaytoperceive,
tofeel
,tomake
senseoft hethi
ngsweonl yeverknowpar t
ial
l
y,thenperhapsI’
m doingali
tt
le
somet hingwort
hwhile.

Ji
lli
anWei se:Ili
keJohn’spoint:‘Wegetdr awnintoargument swedi dnot
choosef orourselv
es.’
Somet imesIf eell
ikeIwouldrathertalkaboutKathy
Acker.Butwhatdoest hewor d‘disabil
it
y’mean?I si
tuseful t
ome?CanIget
someheatf r
om it?Iam remindedofwhatBor gessaidtohisnephew, ‘I
fyou
behave,I’
llgi
vey oupermissi
ont othinkofabear .
’Mostof t
en, It
hinkabout
disabi
li
tywhenIam askedt othinkabouti t
.ThenIfeelanobl i
gati
ont o
behave.

Yes,ther
eisabl ei
sm.Oneabl e-bodiedwr it
ersaidtome, ‘
Ji
llian,doy ouknow
whyweusedi sabledspeakers?’ Dotell
,Grandmaster.‘Becauseal lwr it
ersare
outsi
dersanddi sabledspeakersar ethemostout sider.
’Not ed.ButIal sohear
thi
skindoft hi
ng:anot herwr
iteroncewr otetome, ‘Iwishy ourbookwasnot
sodomi natedbydi sabil
it
ypoems. ’Andthere’sthetrapofabl ei
sm: disabi
li
ty
i
sf orabl
e-bodiedwr it
erstowr i
te,becauseit’
seasyf orthem, andtheydon’t
havetothinktoohar daboutit,butdisabledwr i
ter
sshoul dst ayoutofi t
alt
ogether.

Andt hemet aphors.Themooni sbl i

nd.Theskyi sdeaf .Myloveislame.Your
deathi saphantom limb.Thisisacompl ai
ntaboutbadpoet rymor ethan
ableism.Canweagr eethatin2014di sabil
ityst
ereotypesandclichéd
met aphorsmakebadpoet ry
?AsRosemar ieGarl
and-Thomsonwr it
es,‘
the
alway soverdet
erminedmet aphoricusesofdi sabil
i
tyef f
aceanddi st
ortthe
l
ivedexper i
enceofpeopl ewithdisabil
it
ies,evacuati
ngt hepoli
ti
cal
signifi
canceofourlives.
’Orisittoosoont ocomet othisagreement ?Will
it
taket i
me?Ihopeonedayedi torsrej
ectt hesepoems.
Fort
hef
ull
lengt
hver
sion,
visi
t:

htt
ps://www.
poet
ryf
oundat
ion.
org/
poet
rymagazi
ne/
art
icl
es/
70179/
disabi
l
ity
-
and-poetr
y

Somet
ermsexpl
ained

ableism –di scr i

mi nat ioni nf avourofabl e-bodi edpeopl e
audi sm –di scrimi nat ioni nf av ouroft hosewhocanhear ;negativest i
gma
against
deaf ness
toromant i
cize–t odescr i
besomet hingasmor eat tracti
vet hanitr eall
yis
todemoni ze–t opor traysomet hingasmor eev ilort hreateningt hani tr
eall
y
i
s
towaxpoet ic–t opr ai seusi ngexagger atedl anguage
ASL( Amer i
canSi gnLanguage)–asy stem ofsi gningf ordeafpeopl e;
dif
fer ent
count r
iesusual lyhav et hei rownsi gnl anguages
tomar ginalize–t ot reataper son, orgr oup, ori dea, asuni mpor tantand
wor thless
tolimi t–t or estrict ,tor educet hepowerofsomet hing
tr
ope–at hemet hatr epeat si tsel f,usual lyinar torcul t
ure
tocount er–t oshowdi sagr eement ;topr esentanopposi ngopi nionori dea
audi st–aper sonwhobel iev est hatdeafpeopl ear einferiortothosewhocan
hear
toobscur e–t opr ev entf rom bei ngunder stood, toconceal
normat e–t hatwhi chi sconsi der ed‘ nor mal ’
mar gi nal –l essi mpor tant
vant agepoi nt–aphy sical orment al posi ti
ont hatal lowst heclear estv i
ewof
athi ngor
ani dea
my riad–v er ylargenumber s, al argev ariety
toembody–t oexpr ess, tor epr esent
well school ed–wel l educat ed, wel ltrained
i
mpai r
ment–di sabi l
ity
toaspi re–t ot ryt oachi eve
normi es–‘ nor mal ’ peopl e, peopl ewi t
houtphy si caldi sabi
lit
ies
sali
ent–mostnot iceabl eori mpor tant
uti
li
t arian–usef ul orpr act ical rat hert hanat tract i
ve
l
audabl e–wor thyofpr aise
toper ceiv e–t ounder st and
obligat ion–dut y; somet hi
ngy ouf eel youmustdo
able- bodi ed–wi thoutphy sical disabi lit
y
outsi der–aper sonwhodoesnotbel ong; onewhoi sexcl uded
domi nat edby–f ullof , excessi v elyinf l
uencedby
met aphor–af igur eofspeecht hati ndirect l
ycompar est wot hi
ngt hrough
i
mages
phantom limb–asensat ionexperi
encedbysomeonewhohashadal
i
mb
amput ated,
whof eelst hatthel imbissti
llt
here
ster
eot ype–anov er
simpl ifi
edbel
iefaboutsomethi
ng
cli
ché–anov er
usedphr aseoropini
on
overdetermined–ov erused,unnecessar
il
yrepeat
ed
toefface–t oer ase, toignore
todistort–tomi srepresent
toevacuat e–t oleav eempt y

Quest
ions

1.Accor dingt oJohnLeeCl ark, howt oabl edpoet susual lyrepr esent
deaf nessandbl i
ndnessi nt heirpoet ry?Whati smeantby
‘romant icizing’ and‘ demoni zing’?
2.Thi sconv er sat i
oni nt roducesr eader st oaf ewnewt er
ms, suchas
‘abl eism’ and‘ audi sm’ .Whydoy out hinkdi sabledpoet sar emaki ng
reader sawar eoft hesenewconcept s?
3.Cl arksay st hatdeafpoet sl ookf or‘ musi ci nmot i
on’ .HowdoesASL
(Amer icanSi gnLanguage)pr ov i
det hatmusi c?Wat chsomeoneusi ng
ASLont hei nter nett ohel py ouseet hegr aceoft hosemov ement s.
4.Deafpoet sf i
ndmusi ci nv isual beaut y.Howdoest hiscount erthe
commonassumpt iont hatdeafpeopl edonothav eaccesst omusi c?
5.Cl arkf eelst hatbyconst ant lypr otest i
ng, disabledwr it
ersget‘ drawn
int oar gument s’ theydi dnotchoosef ort hemsel ves.Whatdoeshe
meanbyt hatst at ement ?
6.Cl arkr ecommendst hatdi sabl edwr i
tersshoul dmov ebey ondpr otest,
noti nor dert ol eav ei tbehi nd, butt oexpr esst heot heraspect softheir
lives.Whatar et hoseaspect s,andwhydoesCl arkwantdi sabl ed
aut hor st oshi ftt hei rf ocusawayf r om pr ot est?
7.Jim Fer risst ates, ‘Di sabi li
tyi sdanger ous. ’Whatdoeshemeanbyt hat
st atement ?
8.Fer risquest ionshi sownuseoft hewor d‘ we’ todescr ibedi sabl ed
peopl e’ sv iewandf eel ings.Hef eel s‘weneedt oclai m ourdi ffer
ences.’
Whydoeshef eel that‘ we’ mi ghtbeal i
mi tingwor d?Whydoeshesay
‘who“ we”ar eisal way sshi fting’?
9.Expl aint hest atement ,‘i
fwedon’ twr i
tedi sabili
ty,thenor mi eswi l
lkeep
doi ngi tforus’ .
10.
Fer riswant sr eader st or ecei v edi sabledpoet rybyf eeli
ngand
exper ienci ngdi fferent ly.Whydoy out hi
nkhest r
essesonnewnessof
thought sandi deas?
11.
Jilli
anWei sepoi nt soutacont radi cti
on: abl e-bodieswr itersar ewi l
li
ng
towr i
teaboutdi sabi li
ty ,butt heywantdi sabl edwr iterstoav oida
displ ayofdi sabi lity.Whydoy out hinkt hisi st hecase?
12.
Wei sehopest hatonedaypoemst hatusecl i
chéddi sabili
tymet aphors
wi llber eject edasbadpoet ry.Whydoy out hi
nksuchcl i
chés‘ di
stort
thel ivedexper ienceofpeopl ewi thdi sabi lit
ies’?
 13.
Howcanable-
bodiedreader
sal
tert
heirr
ecept
ionofdi
sabi
l
itybasedon
thei
deasdi
scussedinthi
sconv
ersat
ion?

Appl
i
cat
ions

1.Writ
easummar yofthi
sconv ersation,sot hatar eadergetsan
overvi
ewoft hemai nargument s.
2.Considertheideaof‘archit
ecturalamnesi a’,whichindicatest
hatmost
buil
dingsareconst r
uctedincompl et edisregar dfortheneedsof
peoplewithdiff
erentdisabil
i
ties.Usey ourownobser v
ationsofthe
buil
dingsaroundy outofindexampl es.Thenwr i
tealettertoyourabl
e-
bodiedfri
enddr awingherattenti
ont othisi ssue.

TheEy
esHav
eIt

Ruski
nBond

Ihadthet rai
ncompar tmentt omy selfuptoRohana, thenagi rlgotin.The
couplewhosawherof fwer eprobablyherparents.Theyseemedv er
yanxious
abouthercomf ortandt hewomangav ethegirldetail
edi nst
ructionsast o
wheret okeephert hi
ngs, whennott oleanoutofwi ndows, andhowt oavoid
speakingtostrangers.
Theycal l
edtheirgoodby esandt hetrai
npulledoutoft hestati
on.AsIwas
tot
all
ybl i
ndatthet i
me, myey essensi t
iveonlytolightanddar kness,Iwas
unabletotellwhatthegi rl
lookedlike.ButIknewshewor eslippersf r
om the
waytheysl appedagainstherheel s.

I
twouldtakemesomet i
metodiscov
ersomethi
ngaboutherl
ooksand
per
hapsIneverwoul
d.ButIl
i
kedthesoundofherv
oiceandeventhesound
ofhersl
i
ppers.

'
Arey
ougoi
ngal
lthewayt
oDehr
a?Iasked.

Imusthavebeensi
tt
ingi
nadarkcornerbecausemyvoicestar
tl
edher
.She
gav
eal i
tt
leexcl
amati
onandsai
d,Idi
dn'tknowanyoneelsewasher
e.'

Well
,itoft
enhappenst hatpeoplewi thgoodey esightf
ailt
oseewhati sr
ight
i
nfrontoft hem.Theyhav etoomucht otakein,Isuppose.Whereaspeople
whocannotsee( orseev eryli
tt
le)havetot akeinonlytheessenti
als,
whateverregist
erstell
i
ngl yontheirremainingsenses.

Idi
dn'
tseey
ouei
ther
,'
Isai
d.'
ButIhear
dyoucomei
n.'

Iwonderedi
fIwoul
dbeabl
etopreventherfr
om di
scover
ingthatIwasbli
nd.
Prov
idedIkeept
omyseat,
Ithought
,itshoul
dn'
tbetoodi
ffi
cult
.Thegir
lsaid,