(She is) Unbroken
Unbroken There were times I imagined you different. My young mother mind pictured you— normal, typical, non-disabled. I can’t use those words anymore for their opposites evoke— lack, absence, tragedy, and you, my child, are a celebration of plenty, a bounty of delight, a well of fascination. In fact, you stand against the backdrop of […]
The Life Cycle of a Day
Bink and I walk outside a lot. We are blessed with a number of parks and nature sanctuaries in our area, and we know some of them quite well. This poem stemmed from a particular ramble early last spring. I’m pleased that Willows Wept Review chose to publish it in their fall issue. The […]
BE EVER SO KIND
In my nearly 30 year journey parenting my child with special needs, I’ve had much time to reflect on the juxtaposition between How I Thought Things Would Go and How Things Have Gone. How Things Are. I revisit memories of child-me, teen-me, very-young-adult me, and wonder—what if she knew how things would unfold? What might […]
Hello Out There
Hello, As a very part-time Yoga teacher (and former studio owner), I maintain a separate email communication list for my students. There is a little bit of cross-over; a handful of my students (or former students) also subscribe to this blog. I’ve never sent the same email to both lists, until now. The writing has […]
AUTISM AWARENESS DAY Redux
I’m re-posting this poem in recognition of “World Autism Awareness Day.” As D, a sister mom from my autism tribe, has said, ” We are aware. We are very aware.” Autism Awareness month is April, World Autism Awareness Day, April 2 and, in case the day lacks color, (as if any day with Autism […]
All This Joy, All This Sorrow
Monday, March 28, morning. It’s snowing as I write this. Big, fluffy flakes that arrive past the date of our northern hemisphere Spring equinox. I wonder if they know they won’t accumulate. If they did know, would their especially short lifespan would matter to them? I suspect not. Nature cycles despite our self-important desires and […]
Folliculi, Follicula
TEND and SAVOR “Why the hair is attached to the head it will not come out please respond to me in a video.” These were the first words Bink communicated to me today, shortly after she got up. I’ve answered this question—one of about six in the current sequence that makes up part of my […]
WHO WILL SING? Autism, Adulthood, and Home
WHO WILL SING? She gets older, this daughter of mine, as do I, and the heavy question behind each day, and woven now into each year: what about when I’m gone? She can’t live with you forever I’m told, and I know this to be true. Some of her peers, twenty-ish, thirty-ish, middle aged, […]