Echoes in My Eyes

One of life's most delightful occurrences is being introduced to a world you didn't realize existed and certainly didn't understand. Kelly Sargent pulls the curtain back on the struggles and giggles of twin sisters-one deaf, one partially deaf-and their innocent solutions to communication. Using sign language is not a new concept, but when you're a child without access to a formal language, you do what is natural-you create your own. Each poem is a treasure of understanding, compassion, and persistence in overcoming the challenges of functioning in a world that can't be heard. This book is a touching tribute to a young girl born with "limitations" who outgrew them all, and a sister who loved her without limits.

-j.lewis, Editor of Verse-Virtual and author of goodbye sounds like

Who steps in to provide therapeutic services when twin girls, one hearing-impaired and one deaf, are adopted overseas by military parents? Of course, the little girls do it themselves! In beautiful poems, we see fingers touching throats to feel sound and children signing into cupped hands in the dark of night, as in "Handheld Voices" where "fingers wiggled, / thumbs folded, / knuckles bent, / tendons flexed. // Palms opened and closed, like oysters." Kelly Sargent conveys her role as defender, interpreter, speech therapist, and friend to her sister. Her poems deftly illustrate how she navigated these roles until her sister left for a residential school for the deaf at age twelve- a painful separation, but one that enabled both girls to develop as individuals. This perfectly balanced collection is full of love, humor, metaphor, resiliency, and narrative reflection.

-Mary Ellen Talley, retired speech-language pathologist and author of Taking Leave

No eye will remain dry while reading Echoes in My Eyes, Kelly Sargent's poetry collection that tells a story. It is a story where love and protection live side by side with stigma and stereotypes, white lies, misunderstanding, and separation. Written from the perspective of a loving sister, the reader gets a rare opportunity to learn about what it means to grow up as a deaf person in a hearing society and the crucial role that a significant relationship plays in the course of one journey. I believe this chapbook is a must on every shelf.

-Gal Slonim, Founder of Beyond Words Publishing House