after three or four names \ finger spelt \we give up
Johnny Jump Up is too long \ wild strawberry
buttercups and shooting stars my ASL too thin to cope
muscle & flesh of knowledge breaks apart our signs
broken pieces flutter like falling petals
I laugh and she
five, pulling me along the path from the longhouse to the dark
forest’s edge \ ponderosa guarded by rose scrub \ wants
more.
The gap between my voice & her hands
swallows what I can name
unpicks linguistic evolution.
I pull back against her hand \ kneel \ try to make my hands speak.
SAME SAME
ME
I sign \ she dips. Nose to the pale skin of the dirt
to the place where root and stem meet
petals edging a deep well of colour
flower \ the sign over my nose – and
SMELL
She grins, sniffs.
Five-year-old-fist nods yes \ understand \ smell name.
NAME / SMELL / NAME / SMELL / NAME
She jumps up and runs pointing toward the forest, flashing loudly
MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE
buttercups and shooting stars my ASL too thin to cope
muscle & flesh of knowledge breaks apart our signs
broken pieces flutter like falling petals
I laugh and she
five, pulling me along the path from the longhouse to the dark
forest’s edge \ ponderosa guarded by rose scrub \ wants
more.
The gap between my voice & her hands
swallows what I can name
unpicks linguistic evolution.
I pull back against her hand \ kneel \ try to make my hands speak.
SAME SAME
ME
I sign \ she dips. Nose to the pale skin of the dirt
to the place where root and stem meet
petals edging a deep well of colour
flower \ the sign over my nose – and
SMELL
She grins, sniffs.
Five-year-old-fist nods yes \ understand \ smell name.
NAME / SMELL / NAME / SMELL / NAME
She jumps up and runs pointing toward the forest, flashing loudly
MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE
Carol Shillibeer's poems have been published in many print and online publications, including Drunk Monkeys, filling Station Magazine, Modern Poetry Quarterly Review and Posit Journal. She has received nominations for both Pushcart and Best of Net. Her most recent book, Lune /-/ aria, was published by Dancing Girl Press, 2023 under the name Pearl Button.