let the pear appear in the palm of your hand
let the pear appear in the palm of your hand
coloured by the sun and all her clothes
coloured by the sun and all her clothes
feel the pear in the palm of your hand
feel the pear in the palm of your hand
sink your teeth into the flesh of the pear
sink your teeth into the flesh of the pear
taste the pear on the tip of your tongue
taste the pear on the tip of your tongue
swallow the memory of pear in your palm
swallow the memory of pear in your palm
the pear disappears from the palm of your hand
the pear disappears from the palm of your hand
remember the pear in the palm of your hand
remember the pear in the palm of your hand
{coloured by the sun and all her clothes
coloured by the sun and all her clothes}
I feel like I’m disabling wrong.I’m a writer with a new collection of poems coming out, several alluding to my, or a characters disability. Often people who read poems assume every “I” is the writer and it’s all non-fiction. The common expression “Write what you know,” is not just an argument to write about yourself or your actual experiences, but an encouragement to know more.
There is a longer Jeanette Winterson quote on my Facebook which ends that writing and reading are “not hiding places, they are finding places.” I do the body scan meditation everyday, and several times I am mindful, like eating a juicy peach this morning. My argument is that it should be possible for a bed bound disabled person to also inhabit “the imagined moment,” without being considered a traitor to his peers with disabilities. My argument is that imagination is being in a moment too. That is in an “imagined,” moment. If I find power and relief to imagine me as Queen Victoria, it’s a good thing. One-size-fits-all-stories, and allow no other isn’t what I know from my experience. I would agree with pretty much all points in the initial post, my argument is for diversity to include diversity of thought and mind.
I’ve suffered from mental illness all my adult life and I’ve worked and got things done, and largely because of psychiatric help through talk and meds that I can freely access in Canada. Yes I was out of a day job for three years during my worst depressive episode. Supportive family and friends and the rest…I have lousy cartilage genetics and have a below the left knee amputation.
I’ve adapted well to my prosthesis, but I am not wanting to run across the country or be an Olympian. Getting through the day with a “whatever works, ”philosophy is fine. I read and I write, I listen to music, I manage my pain. Every body is different, and diverse by it’s very nature, so is every brain, and every pain. If I write a character that is in the mind of an other character it will also be different than me. I’ve been different most of my life, what stings now, I’m even different from the accepted disability narrative and am even disabling wrong. Time now for meds and Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Bodyscan.
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