American Poets Peter Cook and Kenny Lerner
Hearing impaired poet Peter Cook and his hearing collaborator Kenny Lerner met in 1984 were soon invited to perform and lecture at the first National Deaf Poetry Conference in 1987, in Rochester, NY. Their success was immediate, and lead to a five week run at the Friends & Artists Theater in Los Angeles in 1989,and invitations to perform and lecture atthe Saskatchewan Writers Guild 21st Annual Conference,” Writing: The Future,” the Theatre de Lucernaire in Paris, France, as well as performances across the American Southwest. In 1998, Mr. Cook and Mr. Lerner were invited to deliver the keynote performance at the Ohio State University Conference, "Disabilities Studies in Higher Education."
The Flying Words Project is considered to be one of the most innovative in the American Sign Language (ASL) poetry. FWP shows that poetry is not only limited to written and spoken language – it is also the ability to feel and show, transforming limitations of regular communication into the means of literature. “Flying Words Project has accomplished what poets have been trying to do for several centuries now; to make their poems more visual, more embodied, more alive.” (Dirksen Bauman, Gallaudet University)
The work of FWP represents a vital contribution to the growing field of ASL performance, while many ASL poets are content to produce interesting, but predictable poems. The work of ASL poet Peter Cook and his hearing poet collaborator Kenny Lerner, consistently experiment with the possibilities of poetic language. They perceptively recognize and exploit the cinematic aspects of ASL in ways that often astound the viewer.
At the same time, they incorporate some of the most ancient aspects of poetry--its embodied rhythms both the modern and ancient aspects of their poetry work together to produce an unforgettable visceral and visual experience for multicultural audiences.
As Peter Cook has written, the significance of his work as a Deaf American poet is in his recognition
that ASL poetry isn't solely about Deafness, nor is it about the oppression of Deaf Culture. "Why not turn on
the poetry-engine and
have it roam around country like what Ginsberg did to America with his Howl?
. . . . Why not let ASL poetry be poetry?
Summary “Need” ASL Poem by Peter Cook and Kenny Lerner
- This poem leads us to think about our “need” once again on consuming nature resources, especially “oil” in here. It‘s amazing how they can talk about the whole global problem in a nutshell. It’s all about needing oil, the cause of many conflicts today. Moreover, they talk about deforestation, chopping down trees and producing chemical “waste” too. It’s the entire environment problem, especially in America.
- The speaker emphasized “need” 3 times in the beginning and another 3 times in the end. But to understand this ASL Poem, we have to understand it along with Cook’s actions, ASL. He repeats the sign of “need” more than 3 times which emphasizes more on our “need”. Then the car is filled up the tank with fuel. It drives for a while and needs more oil. This simply explains the unstoppable need for oil of today’s society.
- They lead us to see that infinity of “need” can create war. This may lead to Iraq war which many people believe that it links to oil profit in Iraq. America is a huge industry country, so oil which will be turned into fuel later, is the main resource for the country.
- It implies about soldiers go to war for false reason. They die for nothing honorable but for oil. “The coffin is compressed until the drips pressured fluids of need, need, need.” The coffin is the dead soldier compressed by the war machine to get drips fluids of need, oil.