By Maria Ruiz
I tuck her hair
Behind her ears
Naked
Ears
Without the aids
Without the sounds
Only language she hears
Is the one my heart speaks
My eyes tell
She knows
This language
Well
The silence
So full
Of sound
Can you hear it?
How can you
Not
Like a dance
She hears
The sounds
Of the silent moments
Most dismiss
She hears
The sound
Of the quiet
The unknown
The language
Of poets
Of musicians
Of the thinkers
Just you and me
Here
Sweet girl
We dance
With the letters
Of the alphabet
We make our own language
Sentences
Without syllables
Without rules
Just freedom
A slowness
A stillness
That is complete
Here
Teach me
The language
Of your heart
Yell it at the top of your lungs
So the world knows
You
And your alphabet
Dance
To the song
In your head
That no one else
Needs to hear
Do you hear
That voice
Inside
I hear it too
And it’s the only voice
You need
To hear
I hear you
Sweet girl
And that’s all that matters
I hear
You
All of you
Maria Ruiz discovered she was a poet by accident in Grade 7, when she was writing down all her emotions about a boy who was driving her crazy. From there, she has discovered that there is a world behind each word, and she often gets lost in between worlds. When she isn’t writing poetry, Maria is busy homeschooling her 3 children: Miah, Andrew, and Lilah. Homeschooling her kids has been such an adventure and gift that she treasures and holds dear. Apart from homeschooling her kids, and being a stay at home mother, Maria loves to run and is aiming to run another half marathon this summer. Together with Edwin, her husband of fourteen years, they strive to learn more about the deaf and hard of hearing community in order to help support their two children who are hard of hearing. Maria finds such deep inspiration from her children and their hearing differences and hopes to use her poetry to highlight the determination, struggles, and beauty of life.
