‘Akimbo in Limbo’: Celebrating poetry in sign language by the hearing-impaired

By Godwin Okondo

AS part of its effort to help hearing-impaired individuals contribute to society, the Deaf Resource Centre (DRC), in collaboration with Seams Consult, recently held a virtual sign language poetry performance to show how deaf people express ideas, thoughts and feelings through sign language. The event was in celebration of ‘The International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ and featured poems from Olumide Olaniyan’s poetry collection ‘Akimbo in Limbo’ and performed in sign language by deaf persons. Other participants at the event included Chief Executive Officer of Seams Signs Consult, Mr. Samuel James and the CEO of Deaf Resource Centre and President of Association of Sign Language Interpreters in Nigeria (ASLIN), Mr. Timothy Tinat. While explaining reasons for holding the event, Tinat said, “Everyone of us enjoys poetry. Though there are some of us who are sound-impaired and can’t hear the sounds or know what it feels like to listen to poetry, but that doesn’t mean they should be left out of what we enjoy in society. The deaf can also enjoy poetry and express thoughts and feelings through it. The fact that they can’t hear doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy societal privileges.”
According to James, “We should all be able to enjoy poetry. Sign language and poetry are art forms, and the merging of both worlds create beauty. This initiative is to bring poetry to those who can’t percieve sound. We should include deaf people in every activity in our society. Today, we are celebrating sign language with poetry, and this is the first of it’s kind.”

After the poems were performed in sign language to the audience, Olaniyan and Tinat then discussed the message the poems potray. The poems performed were ‘Akimbo in Limbo,’ ‘Door of Doubt,’ ‘Suddenly,’ ‘Do not dance for me’ and ‘When Not to Cry.’ Though focused on governance issues for the general public reading, Olaniyan explained that his poetry collection ‘Akimbo in Limbo’ was chosen for teh celebration to make for an inclusive audience as possible even for those with hearing impairment.
On ‘Akimbo in Limbo,’ Olaniyan explained that “the poem is about our everyday life, the decisions we make and how we are affected by them. Like the poem says, we shouldn’t sit back without addressing our problems. Rather, grab the bull by the horns and find a solution to tackle these problems, and we should carry people along when we do this. It also talks about tomorrow — how we can make a sustainable future for the upcoming generation by taking steps to develop what we can, be it education or politics.”
Also explaining ‘Door of Doubt,’ Olaniyan said, “A lot of times, we are at crossroads and we need to make decisions, but we are afraid. There *is* no reason to be afraid and sit back and not act. It’s better to take a decision and be unsuccessful than sit back and do nothing. We should not be afraid to move forward.”

Sharing his thoughts on ‘Suddenly,’ the poet also said, “In life, things happen suddenly and as we look away from the signs that would have alerted us. We can prevent so many things from happening around us if we are able to think ahead and make the right decision. We shouldn’t sit back and wait for things to happen. For me when things happen, it is not sudden; it only shows how unprepared we were.”
He also gave his thoughts on ‘When Not to Cry’, saying, “We are living in a time when we are faced with different difficult situations that make us feel like giving up. We are living in difficult times, which have made things unbearable, but we shouldn’t give up hope under such situations that trouble us. We should move on, not cry.”
While appraising the novel event, James said, “It’s a privilege to be a part of this, being able to make poetry into sign language is new for me. I want to show my appreciation for those who have made it possible for us to enjoy poetry in another dimension, with imagery. I appreciate this initiative.”

An excited Tinat also said, “All the characters featured in the poems are deaf, but they are able to express themselves. This is the opportunity we’ve brought to them, to express themselves through poetry, and share their experiences. It’s quite difficult for them to understand literature due to their inability to hear sounds, but they can use poetry as a medium to express their concerns. They are also humans and they feel the same way we do.”