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| People of Chilmark, Thomas Hart Benton, 1920 |
Upon the land and upon the sea,
Basking in the days of carefree ways,
Games played silently, we all could be.
Simple words spoken within the hands,
Havens cherished, explored, be thus shared,
Martha's vintage language of the sands,
A language evolved beyond presence cared.
Evolving days of lessons to learn,
Schooled in hearts beyond from shores to main,
French signs transformed yet may we discern,
Blending worlds within the hand explain.
To bring to this American shore,
Become these words spoken - ASL,
From island families long before,
Words shared with hands and spoken by all.
As all could be, no barriers would see,
For in those days, hearing spoke with hands,
To share and be a community,
To work, to play, joined upon these sands.
From within our shores of sunshine plays,
Upon the land and upon the sea,
Basking in the days of carefree ways,
Chilmark people... life played silently.
Petrina Lesko
July 2011
The above photo prompt was offered by the wonderful Tess Kincaid over at her Magpie Tales, a fabulous place for poets and writers to share with like-minded artists, creating and basking in the sunshine of life. Please come join us!
