Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Different Kind of Music

Endeavor, Lino Tagliapietra, Columbus Museum of Art

A Different Kind of Music

I was listening to the Sultans of Swing
bopping my head to the beat of the music
(mostly to the beat anyway).
They were deep in conversation,
ignoring the fairly excellent
musical stylings of the Dire Straits.
Their eyes were intent on each flying finger.
I wanted to eavesdrop, but all I heard
were explosions of color flung from
their silent finger ballet.
We so easily sling verbal arrows at one another.
And I’m sure they could have been shouting
at each other with those fingers,
but from my table?
It was all a rainbow.

Daddy's wife Amy (which makes her my step-mother & the only mother I have now unless you count various mother-aunts) got her master's degree after her children were grown and then taught at the NC School for the Deaf for many years before she retired. We were out eating pizza when she & Daddy saw a couple of folks signing to each other. I wasn't rude & didn't turn aroud to look, but I could imagine the scene... Then Daddy started singing along with the Dire Straits & that distracted me. Wouldn't it distract you too?
 
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17 comments:

  1. this is really cool bug...rainbows spinning from their fingers is a neat visual...and i enjoy both of those bands...

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  2. Nicely done intertwining both bands in your write, like them both and using them to create such visuals was nicely done.

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  3. 'Silent finger ballet' .. perfect description of signing. Great Magpie!

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  4. I'm confused - The Sultans of Swing was a song sung by the Dire Straits. Wasn't it? What was the other band?

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  5. what a truly unique point of view... very creative. :-)

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  6. Well now, I kind of love that your Daddy can sing along to Dire Straits (one of my favorite groups).

    Thank you for a colorful post.

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  7. "explosions of color flung from
    their silent finger ballet"

    Colorful, indeed. Love the way your mind works.

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  8. Beautiful poem. I can almost see the hands signing.

    Interestingly enough my aunt, Ruby Mull Setzer worked for many years at the NC School for the Deaf in Morganton.

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  9. It fascinates me to watch deaf conversation, especially when it gets emphatic. You can really "hear" them raise their "voices" but without sound. And then there are certain foreign languages that to me, sound like the people are really angry with one another, but then they break into laughter leaving me very confused!

    Great poem, Dana!

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  10. It was just meant for you to be distracted! My sign language instructor in undergrad school said that he & his wife were in line at a cafeteria, and a couple of girls ahead of them were signing...and talking about them! So, he went up and started signing to them...it shut them up really quickly!

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  11. hee hee this was cool...
    I could see it every finger of it
    nice

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  12. "silent finger ballet" -- like that a lot. Interesting story... and like the part about the "verbal arrows"... enjoyed your response on the prompt.

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  13. Oh, this is very nice. I especially like "I wanted to evesdrop". Well done, Bug!

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  14. Excellent! Silent finger ballet - brilliant.

    Anna :o]

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  15. i wonder if there are youtube videos of finger ballet poetry. it would be lovely i think. thanks for the image

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