DEAF OPPRESSION by Wanda ©2003

Seeking law
I learned long ago
to redress grievances
is like sheep running for shelter
to the bramble bush....

I fell easily
into the hands of injustice
and no place to go
I explored its avenues
unknowingly becoming a warrior
except knowing survival skills
'tis a part of nature
is all I understood....

Body languages everywhere
hearing people
exuding body languages
became my lifelong teachers....

Visually sharpened
in deadly embraces
"let me go"
I quietly pleaded
precluded by nightly tears
knowing I am too small
to be heard....

SOMEBODY
by Overcomer

Hurt and pain through my mental vain
I thought I was insane, drained
In my life it only rained
It started with cries and lots of lies
Regular defeating beatings
And horrfying meetings
Instant pain from this hurting violence
Mental madness and complete sadness
Physical abuse every hit made my skin lose
This terrifying thing happen it is true
It could of happen to YOU
I am not sure about everybody
But it happened to SOMEBODY

I AM SOMEBODY part two

I am that Somebody it happened to
But God has made me new
I was bound and lost
But now I am found and Jesus paid the cost
I was beaten and broken down
Now I have an upside down frown
I was abused and mentally insane
God has stopped that harsh rain
I was scared all inside
But now I walk with pride
I was a nobody in my eyes
That was just the devil filling my head with lies
But now I declare my victory
Yes look at me
I AM SOMEBODY

THE LITTLE GIRL INSIDE ME by Lorie ©1999

The little girl inside me
Has never really lived
She's seen some things
That made her sad
The things her father did

All those years that she lived
With the sadness and the pain
She tried to overcome it
But she was so ashamed

She hid it all, didn't tell a soul
And thought that she did right
But in the end, it took her soul
It nearly took her life

She didn't think it mattered
She thought she was alright
But the sadness wouldn't leave her
It was time to put up a fight

It was a bloody battle
Many lessons she had learned
She took too many beatings
And her father she had spurned

She came so far and now she knows
The meaning of goodbye
She'll pack up all those memories
And finally let them die

YOU HAVE TO BE DEAF TO UNDERSTAND
submitted by Lisa
Written by Willard J. Madsen in 1971

What is it like to "hear" a hand?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be a small child,
In a school, in a room void of sound--
With a teacher who talks and talks and talks;
And then when she does come around to you,
She expects you to know what she's said?
You have to be deaf to understand.

Or the teacher thinks that to make you smart,
You must first learn how to talk with your voice;
So mumbo jumbo with hands on your face
For hours and hours without patience or end,
Until out comes a faint resembling sound?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be curious,
To thirst for knowledge you can call your own,
With an inner desire that's set on fire--
And you ask a brother, sister, or friend
Who looks in answer and says, "Never Mind"?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like in a corner to stand,
Though there's nothing you've done really wrong,
Other than try to make use of your hands
To a silent peer to communicate
A thought that comes to your mind all at once?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be shouted at
When one thinks that will help you to hear;
Or misunderstand the words of a friend
Who is trying to make a joke clear,
And you don't get the point because he's failed?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be laughed in the face
When you try to repeat what is said;
Just to make sure that you've understood,
And you find that the words were misread--
And you want to cry out, "Please help me friend"?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to have to depend
Upon one who can hear to phone a friend;
Or place a call to a business firm
And to be forced to share what's personal, and,
Then find that your message wasn't made clear?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to be deaf and alone
In the company of those who can hear--
And you can only guess as you go along,
For no one's there with a helping hand,
As you try to keep up with words and song?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like on the road of life
To meet with a stranger who opens his mouth--
And speaks out a line at a rapid pace;
And you can't understand the look in his face
Because it is new and you're lost in the race?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to comprehend
Some nimble fingers that paint the scene,
And make you smile and feel serene,
With the "spoken word" of the moving hand
That make you part of the world at large?
You have to be deaf to understand.

What is it like to "hear" a hand?
Yes, you have to be deaf to understand.

DAUGHTER OF RAGE by Deb ©1998

Violated daughter
spirit of the flame
deep, wild spirit
where all creativity originates
dancing through darkest nights
over mountains of tears
through thick wooded forests
on dark starlit paths

Rage raised daughter
fighting through the wounded places
severed from comfort
torn from safety

Unprotected daughter
secret prizefighter
fierce enough to rise up again
no matter how many times she's been knocked down
triumph and die
and triumph again
How many even know she exists?

POEM by Sojourner ©1998

The young girl searches for what she has lost
Stolen from her before she could see
Precious time and love is what it has cost
To find it would at last set her free
She has been searching on for so long
Her strength and courage have begun to slack
Realizing that what she has lost is gone
Something that never can be gotten back

"I can't change the past, but I can make the present better
so my future will be what I want. "