i am not deaf

the way
my lineage is deaf
not deaf
the way
America is deaf
not deaf
the way
my president is deaf
not Deaf
the way
DEAF-PREZ-NOW is Deaf
not deaf
the way
my family is D/deaf
not Deaf
the way
DEAF-WAY is Deaf
not Deaf
the way
DEAF-WORLD is not deaf
not deaf
the way
my culture is deaf
not deaf
the way
my culture is Deaf
not Deaf
the way
my culture is Deaf
not Deaf
but not deaf, either

Originally printed in Troubling the Line: An Anthology of Trans and Genderqueer Poetry & Poetics (EOAGH Press, 2013). Copyright © 2013 by Meg Day. Used with the permission of the author.