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Born hard of hearing and adopted in Luxembourg with my deaf twin sister, I grew up cherishing every minute we spent together. I mourned the loss of her, in a sense, when she left to attend a residential school for the Deaf as a preteen, and again when she suffered a life-changing injury as an adult. A collection of poems celebrating our twinhood and processing my loss appears in my award-nominated chapbook.
My memoir in verse speaks to love as well as loss. In childhood, I had taken on the roles of sign language interpreter and teacher, and I experienced her daily absence as a profound loss. I then began a search for my own identity and place in a world without a mirror.
Links to additional reviews: https://kelsaybooks.com/products/seeing-voices-poetry-in-motion
A second chapbook entitled Echoes in My Eyes is forthcoming (Kelsay Books, 2024).
I wrote for SIGNews, a newspaper for the Deaf, and worked with deaf students in education. I serve as Creative Nonfiction Editor of The Bookends Review and on the Editorial Board of Beyond Words. I authored a forthcoming collection of modern haiku and senryu poems entitled Bookmarks. A poem recognized in the 2022 Golden Haiku contest received a placard in Washington, D.C. A children's storybook, Sundae Sundays has been released.
Cover art and poems appear in over sixty publications, including Rattle and Chestnut Review. Works received nominations for 2021 Best of the Net, 2022 Touchstone Award for Individual Poems, and 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Award.
Reviewed by Edith Wairimu for Readers' Favorite
In the heartfelt poetry collection, Seeing Voices: Poetry in Motion, Kelly Sargent recounts nostalgic memories of moments spent with her twin sister who was born deaf. The poem “Her Voice” offers the background of the sisters. They were born in Luxembourg and adopted months later by an American military couple. The poems vividly recount their childhood experiences in different countries. Heart-warming scenes of moments spent by the beach, catching breathtaking sunrises and gorgeous sunsets are included in the collection. In the poem “Fruits of Labor,” Sargent recalls how her sister would try to learn from her how to pronounce different words. The collection not only includes candid moments about the sisters’ childhood quarrels but also the wonderful moments they shared.
The close bond between the sisters shines through each poem. Sargent portrays the joy the sisters derive from spending time together beautifully. She writes with empathy and wonder, painting lovely images of nature’s gifts. The poems are embellished with the rich detail of the settings and evocative descriptions of each moment covered. They aptly capture the intricacies of the relationship the sisters share such as when Sargent’s sister closes her eyes to shut her out and show the growing closeness between them. Seeing Voices: Poetry in Motion by Kelly Sargent is a powerful poetry collection celebrating the bond between twin sisters. Readers will find their relationship uplifting and will be delighted by the scenes depicted in the poems. They will find each verse absorbing and will be inspired to look back and find insight from their memories.
