Jan./Feb. 1999

Call to A.G. Bell by Brenda Jo Brueggemann Poet's Note: A.G. Bell, inventor of the telephone, was also a foremost and formidable advocate of "oralism" for educating deaf people. As one of the premier "eugenicists" of his day, he conducted "research" that sought to verify his argument for not allowing deaf people to marry other deaf people--fueled by the fear that they would only have more deaf children and, thereby, pollute the human race. His own mother and wife were deaf.   Got a quarter so I call you up on the telephone ring-ring-ring but only your wife and mother are home, so no one answers. You out charting and graphing marriages and progeny of the deaf, while only your wife and mother --deaf-- are home. (ringed in) So I leave a message after the beep-- but actually, it's before the beep because the beep I can not hear. So, you miss half of it. I start again. This time, I mouth the message-- so you can lipread. But you don't get it, can't tell my b's from my p's, my f's from my v's. So I try again slowing. . . down . . . emph-a-siz-ing each W-O-R-D, my face contorted, clown-like. Still, that won't do. (What are you, dumb?) I try signing, hands across space in your face, but you are horrified by the spectacle of my body moving beyond speech, and you avert your eyes. Too late. I have burned your retina, salt-pillared you, left you speechless. And oh, the time is up, message too long. (It's taken 120 years to get this call through.) Sorry. No, wait-- I'll fax you the facts; I'll send a video, documentary of my life, caption and all, interpreter on standby; or perhaps TTY or relay service; an e-mail even, coming through. Let's "talk." But oh-- now that I've gotten my medium, I've forgotten my message.   Back to table of contents ABOUT US | SUBSCRIBE | CURRENT ISSUE | OUR LAST ISSUE| LINKS | E-MAIL EDITOR | HOME © Copyright 1998 The Ragged Edge   This Website produced by Cliffwood Organic Works