Poem of the Day: You See Me, But Do You Really

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I’m disabled So I know what it’s like to be looked at like I’m less or not at all You see me But do you really? I’m blind I’m deaf I’m mute. I’m in a wheelchair I’m an amputee I’m one of many Looked at far To often With little regard. Talked down to. You see me In the parking lot Taking the handicap Spot But I walk What you don’t see Is the prosthetic Hiding Beneath jeans Or the lungs That don’t fully Cooperate. Your quick to judge To make assumptions About the things I can and cannot do I’m in a Chair You talk to me Like I’m two As if somehow Paralyzed legs Equal a problem With my brain. I’m mute Not really there Some say Brain damaged from infancy. But I hear What you say I respond to love The same as you. I am one Of the special ones Down Syndrome They say But you won’t be Down around me For long I have a language We all should have Love. I’m Autistic Somethings take longer And I get nervous If things aren’t a certain Way But I’m a person Not a label. I’m disabled So I know what it’s like to be looked at like I’m less or not at all You see me But do you really? (C) Michelle R Kidwell June.06.2020