Poetry Crossing

A wonderful lady, fellow-CPitS poet/teacher, and awesome Emily Dickinson impersonator, Phyllis Meshulam, has a fun fun fun and colorful blog called "Poetry Crossing: Thoughts on poetry lesson plan book for K-12." Check it out for wonderful ideas about poetry teaching. 

Phyllis, a poet from Sonoma County, has contributed multiple lesson plans to CPitS anthologies over the years. This poem of hers, published in the 2002 CPitS Statewide Anthology, attempts to put in writing the movements of a poet performing in American Sign Language. Poetry is not all on the page or in the ear, it can also be performed by the body without sound. 

The Angel of Muscular Wings

Impressions of an American Sign Language Poem by John Roades

The poet is a skyscraper of a man,
          but flexible,
portraying the New York skyline,
          one humming tower at a time.

His hands take flight like airplanes
          with their fragile cargo;
his body, receiving the blow,
          explodes, and reconfigures

as the Angel of Muscular Wings
          that catches the couples jumping,
          the incinerating ants.
But, in reality, he is just human

sprouting feathers before our eyes
crocheting keratin
into fire-retardant sings
so as to represent those

who know to run
toward disaster:
          earthbound gestures
          eternally generous. 

Phyllis H. Meshulam 

There are lovely videos of deaf poets on YouTube. For example, here's "The United States of Poetry" by Peter Cook. This video includes a spoken rendition of the poem. There are also videos of poetry signed but not spoken. Your students might find the experience of seeing a poem in ASL quite astounding, if they've never known a deaf person or seen ASL performed. 

Enjoy!