Sign Out Poem by Jonathan Waterbury

The last time i felt safe

How can i be expected to resist
When the only idea they have of consent
Is simply the lack of a "no"
how can i fight back
When i was not given a voice to begin with

To be a Deaf woman in the city
Is to be a loaded gun
It is to be a game of russian roulette
Half sculpture
Half artist
I can create poems from my fingertips
I can sing without ever making a sound

Just because you cannot fit in the box they made
They'll look at the art this is your body
They will tell you that it is broken
And they will keep their eyes closed
As they touch what does not belong to them

Its been years
And the men who tresspass on my body have never known that they were not welcome
Despite the way i shaped my fingers against their touch
It's been years
And the men who trespass on my body have never known that they were not welcome
Despite the way i shaped my fingers against their touch
Show me a man who can understand my dissent
Without pretending that a language barrier is an excuse take what does not belong to you

What about me screams consent
When i never even said a word
What about my silence says yes
What about my silence says that i am less human
ANd how can i be expected to resist
when the only idea they have on consent is simply the lack of a"no. how can i fight back
when i was note given a voice to begin with


Everything that ever belonged to me
Was created right here.
I am not ashamed of this body
Not ashamed of these hands that will keep screaming no until they are heard
Because after all these years I still havent found a sign to make them understand.
But that's something you learn
If you were not given a voice
You find another way to speak out
And this is me. Signing out.

i want to tell you that you are NOT being punished. That are beautiful... and NOTHING they ever, ever say can change that. You are allowed to take up space, to exist without being what they want you to be.