Shall I Name It
(listen to the poem, read by Diane R. Wiener)
Shall I name it?
It is soft, and spined, and suffering,
forever coiling forever’s spring.
Forever falling at its feet,
forever fooled it’s incomplete.
And others hate the ways it hurts.
And others hate the ways it’s dressed.
And others say it’s at its worst
precisely when it’s at its best.
Yet every chance to choose its joy
is taken, tested, tasted — Joy!
Joy where joy was broken light!
Joy in joy enjoy delight!
And there is skill in suffering—
builds its masks and binds its wings.
And though that speaks defeated thoughts,
I think of pupae silked in swaths.
And every eye from eye it fled,
it fled to find what eyes misread—
such bounty in neglected things!
Forever coiling forever’s spring.
And still, they hate the ways it hurts.
And still, they hate the ways it’s dressed.
And still, they say it’s at its worst
precisely when it’s at its best.
And still, they say it’s like a child,
while cowering their inner wilds.
Denied its beat, still braves the rhythm.
Shall I name it?
Autism.
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About the Author
Jameson Lee Christopher is a nonbinary, neurodivergent writer and poet, American by birth, Australian by breed, Kiwi by residence, and Barista by trade. When not writing or working, they’re practicing archery, composing, singing, or swaddling themselves in a weighted blanket with a playstation controller.