Please read again this realistic poem with accompanied picture adding clarity and candor.
I went to remedial speech class from kindergarten to eighth grade. Kids where making fun of me when I said: s, sh, j,z,ch. But I kept learning, and eventually I became a poet. Here is one of my poems:-
"Speech Class"
We were outcasts----
you with your stutters,
me with my slurring----
and that was plenty for a friendship.
When we left class to got to the therapist
we hoped they wouldn't laugh---
took turns reminding the teacher;
"Me and Joe have to go to shpeesh clash now,"
or "M-m-me and J-Jim ha-have to go to
s-s-speech now."
Mrs. Clark, therapist, was also god, friend, mother
Once she took us to the zoo on a field trip:
"Aw, ya gonna go look at the monkeys?"
"Maybe they'll teach you how to talk."
We clenched teeth and went
and felt the sun and fed the animals
and we were a family of broken words.
For years we both tried so hard
and I finally learned
where to put my tongue and how to make the sounds
and graduated.
But the first class you left class without me
I felt that punch in the gut----
I felt like a deserter
and wanted you
to have my voice
ኣነ “ኣዘራርባ” ክለምድ ካብ መዋዕለ ሕጻናት ጀሚረ ክሳብ ሻሙናይ ክፍሊ ዝበጽሕ ተማሃርኩ። መማህርተይ ቆልዑ “ ሰ፡ ሸ፡ጀ፡ ዘ፡ ጀ” ኢለ ከድምጽ ከሎኹ፡ ይስሕቁኒ ነበሩ። ግና ተስፋ ኣይቆረጽኩን፡ ኣብ መወዳእትኡ ገጣማይ ኰንኩ ደኣ።
“ምምሃር ዘረባ”
“Specch Class”
ብጂም ዳንኤልስ
ንጆ (ዮሴፍ) ዓርከይ
ንሕና ዝተገለልና ነበርና
ንስኻ ምዝራብ ኣብዩካ ክትጽይፍ
ኣነ ድማ ጋእ-ጋእ ክብል
እዚ ኸኣ’ዩ ንዓና
ኣቀራሪቡ ዘተዓራርኸና።
ካብ ክፍሊ ወጺእና
ኣዘራርባ ክንማሃር ምስ ከደና
ምእንቲ ከይስሕቁና
ተስፋ ገበርና
ተራይ ምስ በጽሓኒ
መምህረይ ከምዚ ክብለኒ የዛኻኽረኒ፡-
“ ኣነን ጆንን ናብ ሺፒሽ ክላሽ ግዲ” ( ክጽይፍ shpeesh clash = speech class)
ወይ ኣ…..ኣ….ኣ ኣነ ሕጂ (ጋእ-ጋእ ክብል)
ወይ ጂም ዓርከይ ክ…ክ…ክ..ክኸይድ ኣለዎ ኣምበኣር
ኣ….ኣ…ኣ…..ኣዛራርባ ክመሃር።
ሚስስ ክላርክ መምህርና ክዝክራ
ሕያወይትን፡ ዓርክን፡ መሓዛን ነይራ።
ሓደ መዓልቲ ምስ ወሰደትና በሉ
ናብ’ቲ እንስሳታት ዝዕቆብሉ
“ ነዘን ኣህባይ ክትርእየውን ዲኹም?
ምናልባሽ ኣዘራርባ ይምህራኹም”
ምስ በለትና ኣፍና ነኺስና
ናብኡ ኣቢልና ከድና።
ዋዒ ጸሓይ እንዳተሰማዓና…..
ነቶም እንሳታት መግቢ ክንድብርየሎም ጀመርና።
ምስዞም ከም ሓደ ስድራ ቤት ዝዀንና
ሙሉእ ብሙሉኡ ምዝራብ ዝኣብየና።
ክልተና ንዓመታት ክንመሃር ፈተንና
ኣብ መወዳእትኡ ኣነ መለኽክዎ ግና
መልሓሰይ ናበይ ከም ዘብል ድሕሪ ምልምማድ
ምስ ጀመርኩ ከም ድላየይ ምድማጽ።
ተመረቅኩ ኣነ ይብለካ
ብድሕረይ ንዓኻ ገዲፈካ
ዘይሓሰብናዮ ገጢሙና ረኤኻ።
ከም ዝኸሓድኩኻ ኢዩ ዝመስለኒ
እወ “ድምጸይ” ካብ ንዓይ
ንዓኻ ክኸውን ክንደይ ባህ ምበለኒ።
Source: Janeczko, Paul (1990)/ The Place My Words Are Looking For. What Poets Say About And Through Their Works. Page. 43-46.
