ASL POEM- ZEE Surgery
- Zoralei Boysen
- Jun 27, 2020
- 2 min read
ASL is a beautiful language. It comes with a rich culture of story telling and poetry. One very specail literary type is called an ABC story. This is where you take the letters of the alphabet in ASL and create a story using signs with each of their hand shapes. For this poem, I based it of that concept. Instead of the alphabet I used my name Z O R A L E I repeated four times. As you watch, you will see this pattern. This poem is about my hysterectomy. It follows me through my time at the doctors office on that day. Even if you do not know ASL I encourage you to watch and experience literature in a different form. I have included a type of translation under the video. I suggest watching first and then looking at the translation after if you feel you did not understand, but of course you may take in this content however you wish. Thank you for watching, I hope you connected with my story.
P.s. The first 20 seconds I am just explaining what I did in this paragraph.
Z- I fill out the paperwork
O- I try to calm myself
R- I smooth my braids
A- I force a smile through the terror and sadness
L- Receptionists, Doctors, Nurses... they all come and talk with me and then leave
E- I say a desperate prayer
I- time ticks... the surgery is near
Z- I walk into the operating room, laying on the bed
O- I roll up my sleeve
R- they put the rubber band on my upper arm, tightening it
A- I pump my fist
L- they put in the IV
E- I look up at the I’ve bag of fluids and medicines
I- they put on a gas mask and I fall asleep
Z- I am asleep
O- I feel, see, experience... NOTHING
R- The put straps on my body in case I wake up
A- The doctor makes four incisions
L- They put their instruments in my body. One of them is the straw they pulled out my uterus with
E- The doctor wipes his brow as it nears the hour mark
I- They stitch me up
Z- A heart monitor is at my side
O- I rub my eyes open
R- Pain is erupting in my abdomen
A- I ask for help
L- I am alone
E- I pull up my gown and down my blanket revealing my bandaged and bruised belly
I- A tear comes down my cheek
Once again thank you for watching and spreading awareness not only of the impact of endometriosis on women, but also for Deaf culture and literature.
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