Tamara’s Opus by Joshua Bennett
*asterisks indicate hand-signed lines Tamara has never listened to hip hop. Never danced to the rhythm of raindrops or fallen asleep to a chorus of chirping crickets. She has been Deaf for as long as I’ve been alive. And ever since the day I first turned five my father has said: “Joshua. Nothing is wrong with Tamara. **God just makes some people different.**” And at that moment those nine letters felt like hammers swung gracefully by unholy hands to shatter my stained glass innocence into shards that can never be pieced back together or do anything more than sever the ties between my sister and I. I waited, was patient numberless years anticipating the second her ears would open like lotuses and allow my sunlight senses to seep into her insides make her remember all of those conversations we must have had in heaven back when God handpicked us to be sibling souls centuries ago. I still remember her 20th birthday. Readily recall my awe-struck 11 year old eyes as I watched Deaf men and women of all ages dance in unison to the vibration of speakers booming so loud that I imagined angels chastising us for disturbing their worship with such beautiful blasphemy. Until you have seen **a Deaf girl dance, you know nothing of passion.** There was a barricade between us that I never took the time to destroy never even for a moment thought to look up the sign for **sister**, for **family**, for **goodbye. I will see you again someday.** remember the face of your little brother. It is only now I see that I was never willing to put in the extra effort to love her properly. So as the only person in my family who is not fluent in sign language I’ve decided to take this time to apologize. Tamara **I am sorry for my silence.** For true love knows no frequency, and so I will use these hands to speak volumes that can never be contained within the boundaries of sound waves I will shout at the top of my fingertips until digits dance and relay these mental messages directly to your soul. I know that there is no poem that can make up for all the time we have lost so please, if you can, **just listen.** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVvzw7d11Q8 Opus: “any artistic work, especially one on a large scale”. Joshua Bennett’s opus on his sister details his progression of understanding his older sister being deaf and his exploration into life experiences for deaf people. An important aspect of this poem is that Bennett includes several hand signs in his spoken performance of his poem. As a younger brother, Bennett describes his initial understanding of his sister through his father’s explanation: “God just makes some people different”. From this explanation, he describes the shattering of his innocence as he realizes he will always see him and his sister as “different”. The emotion of this part of the poem is significant because it builds the arc of the story he is telling. Bennett will proceed to relate his current relation to his sister, but his description of himself as a child is telling to the ignorance he held on the matter before he grew up. This change in his character delivers the moral of the poem to the reader and builds a strong emotion of familial love and understanding that a reader can relate to. Indicated by the asterisks, Bennett speaks while signing certain lines of the poem. The hand signs appear during lines Bennett wants to emphasize. Since the poem is a declaration to his sister about the barrier between them, he signs “I am sorry for my silence”, “family”, and “goodbye. I will see you again someday”. His use of the ASL hand signs shows important character development, as he goes from confusion to attempts at communication. By the end of the poem Bennett comes to the realization of what he has learned in life. He has an apology for his sister, which is signed, because he now knows that a language barrier cannot keep them apart, “For true love knows no frequency”. The message I find in the poem is that we can always change our views on what we think we know. Our interpretation of our world and what is “different” may come as a new realization later in life. Through Bennett’s poem, a connection and new-found appreciation of deaf culture is seen as he urges us all to “just listen”.
29 Comments
baymichelle_15
11/4/2016 07:31:23 am
I truly love this poem. I have a friend who's deaf and I can truly view the point behind this scene. "God just makes some people different" and for this I am grateful. I love the fact that it's about a brother writing about his sister and how he actually admits that he has learned from her and the things she does.
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mallory
11/4/2016 07:39:24 am
Thank you for putting the asterisks because if you wouldn't have I wouldn't have had a clue what it meant!
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dominc
1/13/2023 11:52:52 am
YESSSSSSS 10/30/2023 11:24:45 am
boy aignt no way you cussed in the website BROOO thats like cussing in school imma have to tell on yo bitch ass so i think again before posting, remember people have died because of that im not saying i can do shit im 8 years old in middle school talking crap to an adult probably anyway thought this would be a fun message for you to read peace my niglit I'm glad you pointed out the development of the speaker in this poem. I feel like that's a really important shift. How do you think the idea of "true love knows no frequency" could be applied to the way people treat others who are "different" in this world today?
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This piece was extremely powerful, filled with a perfect cocktail of genuine emotion, and left a lot for the listener to resonate with. I particularly enjoyed, as you stated, the character's depiction of his development. It seems that his father's expression of a divisive difference between he and his sister set the stage for his youthful ignorance/nonchalance as it pertained to his relationship with his sister. How important do you think words are, when it comes to labeling people? Should we feel compelled to give disclaimers for individuals who may be seen as different or should we allow their energy, and interaction with others, speak for them?
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12/5/2016 06:20:56 am
This was an amazing poem, and I really enjoyed you bringing it to attention. I like that you chose to pay special attention to the line towards the beginning the poem about the words seeming like "hammers." The image was so strong reading the poem first time through and really shifted the the tone of the poem from innocent curiosity to more nuanced discovery. Just as the little boy's innocence is shattered when his father tells him his sister is different, the reader's innocence is also shattered as the reader now sees that childlike innocence cannot last. I also enjoyed the line about how "one never knows passion until they see a deaf woman dance." This also shows a shift in the persona's life as he realizes that even though his sister is different, she holds the same amount of resilience and passion that a hearing person does. Loved this and your analysis of it!
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Stella Lily Rowan
11/6/2019 07:18:03 pm
We are studying this poem in my English class, and I think its wonderful that you made this page because looking at your dissection of the poem really helped me to better understand "Tamara's Opus", the context, and where the author is coming from.
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Armand Liste Romaind
11/6/2019 07:24:05 pm
This is great! Thanks for such a awesome break down of this poem!
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skinny penis
12/3/2019 12:45:04 pm
suck me
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dont worry about it
12/4/2020 12:24:27 pm
Maybe i freaking will dont temt me
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Ew
12/18/2020 07:38:11 am
What in the world
Makaveli Killuminati
2/3/2022 03:52:32 pm
are you stupid stop being inappropriate you moron
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Da Big Drop
11/28/2022 12:00:02 pm
watch who you talken to nigga, its DA BIGGGGGG DROOOOOOP
nig
12/8/2022 08:11:51 pm
ga
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Da Big Drop
2/2/2024 09:23:31 am
DAAAAAAAAAAAA BIGGGGGGG DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP
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akira
5/11/2020 03:17:13 pm
adkfkrewijlj
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daddy
9/28/2020 11:57:48 am
this sucks
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Vince
1/19/2021 03:28:53 pm
no u AHahahhha Gottem.
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mommy
4/22/2022 01:50:13 pm
smd. lolz im bored
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Vince
1/19/2021 03:30:11 pm
In all seriousness, this was a beautiful poem and the spoken one has so much emotion and pace. If any of you have not yet watched it, I recommend it because it is a work of ART.
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boner
3/30/2022 06:24:49 am
heyyy
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....
3/30/2022 11:27:32 am
I have hearing loss. lol not exactly fun
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dominc
1/13/2023 11:55:28 am
who-------- cares
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big ballz
1/13/2023 11:55:01 am
NIGGA I JUS POOPED AND THEN LOOKED AT THIS AND I SHIT MY PANTS AGAIN
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