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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Sometimes It’s Obvious (Prompt: Sometimes ____ )


They stir something
in us that makes us
admire their nobility,
their unshatterable dignity.

They find ways to walk
without legs,
type without fingers,
trust without seeing,
dance without ever
hearing the music.

Sometimes it’s obvious,
but sometimes it isn’t.

For years
she asked me
for a wheelchair
or leg braces,
because she knew it
would let the world know
there was something
“wrong”
with her.

As she gets older,
and we learn more about
her disability,
I realize it is not
invisible, only hidden

deep inside
her skull,
inside the already
twisted Gordian knot of
synapses, nerve receptors
and other gray matter,
her cerebellum
most likely deprived of oxygen
in utero
is damaged,
and slowly the effects
are manifesting:

balance problems
organizational problems
sequencing problems
emotional problems
algebra word problems
visual-spatial problems
auditory processing problems
problem problems.

The good news is
she’s not so bad off
that the world sees her
as disabled.

The bad news is
she’s not so bad off
that the world sees her
as disabled.

9 comments:

  1. Read the prompt wrong. Oh well.

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    Replies
    1. You didn't read the prompt wrong. It's fine. Robert makes his prompts so they're really wide open. So as long as you got the form of the title correct that's probably enough.

      Just wanted to tell you that we're featuring your blog today (probably closer to midnight tonight so I and my writing buddy can finish our day 12 poems. My blog was featured yesterday on NaPoWriMo.net so I hope that mojo continues and new people are drawn to your blog.

      Though you have plenty of readers and commenters as it is. Just wanted to let you know so you can watch for it. I'll comment here when it goes live.

      Hey, thanks for putting me in your blogroll.

      Delete
    2. Oh, wait, I see. You have "Sometimes ______" and not "Something _______" ... not a problem, good poem, right?

      Delete
  2. Wonderfully touching, beautifully worded. :)

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  3. Wonderfully touching, beautifully worded! :)

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  4. Sometimes curses can be blessings. Sometimes blessings can be curses. Point made well.

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  5. The duality at the ending stanzas are a roller-coaster all in themselves. These SarahLynn chronicles are as insightful intellectually as they are emotionally charged.

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  6. I've made several false starts to comment on this, but they either sound too egghead-y or too glib. So, I'll just say that this set me thinking and wondering what that must be like.

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  7. Hey, El Moskowitz ... my blog with shout-out to you went live 20 minutes ago. Just made it before midnight tolled, so still on the 12th. Check it out and let me know what you think, okay? Hope it brings you some new readers.

    Can you mention my blog (link back) in your blog? Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete