Jade Gibson

SPEAKERS

They were speaking
In the silence of the underground
Where faces avoid each other
Hands were waving across the carriage
Suppressed laughter
Above the rumble of train engine
Were they talking about us
The silent ones, failing
To have conversations across an entire passage
In that eager movement of dancing fingers
That carved words, paragraphs, phrases
Of delight between the group of people
Who had entered our avoidant void
And filled it with a humour we could not
Follow. Today, I picture those hands wave
And see my own disability; the non-gaze,
The non-speech of the London Underground
While palms fluttered, dove-like, around us.

Jade Gibson is an anthropologist, artist and writer who grew up in the UK, West Indies and Africa. She is currently working on academic research in South Africa. Between her academic writing, she has previously worked as a humour columnist and copywriter and has won several prizes in short story and poetry competitions, with short pieces published. She is currently editing her first novel, for which she will shortly be seeking publication.