To Hearing World

A/N: Kindly read the verse in landscape mode if the lines don’t fit entirely on your screen.

To my beloved organs,
additional duties are assigned.
Eyes also act as ears;
hands assist or replace mouth.
Yes, I am a deaf,
hearing impaired
but capable of doing anything else.

Ever wondered how I grew?
As an infant, 
I understood my mom
only when she's around.
When she found my disability,
she didn't speak anymore.
Instead, her hands started dancing.

As a kid,
silence became my sound.
I was taught to be more aware
of what's beyond my hearing sense.
The barking dogs,
The honking traffic,
The nasty arguments, and many more.

As a teen,
I started mingling.
But, deafness separated the society and me.
I didn't know musical parties.
I didn't know farts can be heard.
I didn't know I was ignoring calls.
These didn't make me dumb or you smart.

As an adult, 
I now know ASL and lip-reading.
I often fear the times of emergency,
keeping in mind the safety of those around.
Few of my kind have aids.
But they amplify, literally everything,
from the noise of fans to the voices of friends.

We don't want to be pitied.
It's just that our ears dysfunction.
Yes, we miss certain things,
but don't forget to live life either.
For us, love is deaf.
We don't tell it to you but show.
The least we expect is to be inclusive.

Why this post?

The UN General Assembly has proclaimed 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages in order to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf. The theme for the 2020 International Day of Sign languages is “Sign Languages Are for Everyone!“