It was nice and sunny on Sheldon Avenue
Then a black family moved there
The girl Wilma was nice and became my sister’s best friend and we gave her a
neat name sign like wine
But Wilma’s little brother was a pest
Every day he ran up to us and made faces and beat the air in front of us
We tried to teach him some real signs but he was more interested in his own
sign language
Every day every day every day he did the same thing
That boy grr we wanted to claw his eyes out
So my brother Keith and I had a meeting and we said okay
Next day the pest ran up to us and did his thing
Keith wrote on a notepad Do you know what you just said
The boy read it and shook his head
Keith wrote You said that your mother looks like a monkey
He was still a pest but at least his hands were tied next to his head to an
invisible wall behind him
Now it was really nice on Sheldon Avenue with its bright yellow sign that
said Deaf Child Crossing which everyone liked because it made the cars go
slow
Of course they kept it there even after we grew up and moved on
