Monique Harris*
EYES
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read by André Le Mont Wilson
Why can't people act as if they don't have eyes?
Then people couldn't see disabilities.
You could not see the color of someone's skin.
You could not see someone drooling.
You could not see someone shaking.
You could not see incontinent bags.
You could not see facial disfigurements.
You could not see how much a person weighs.
Then we could see the world as yellow as the sun
and as green as the grass.
Come see the world as I do.
You could not see someone's wrinkles.
You could not see someone's hair color.
You could not see someone's missing teeth.
You could not see someone's missing limb.
Then we can see the world as yellow as the sun
and as green as the grass.
Come see the world as I do.
* * *
MY KNEES
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When people stare at my knees,
they see black, crusty knees that have
scars.
They ask, Do your knees hurt?
Or, Why are your knees dark?
When they touch my knees, they ask, Why are they so rough?
Do my knees hurt?
After years of crawling, they feel lumpy and bony.
My lumpy and bony knees carried me from one room to another
When I was pregnant with the greatest gift of all–my baby son.
Why are my knees dark?
After years of crawling,
The friction on my knees changed the color of the skin,
But I think the color is beautiful!
Why are my knees so rough?
After years of crawling, they got smart and went shopping
for the darkest, roughest cover they could find.
Then they developed super-human powers!
My knees can crawl through grass, gravel, and dirt.
They can crawl over concrete and hot asphalt.
They are rough and glorious to carry me through life.
* * *
SPEED
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First, I want to explain how speed feels to me
It feels like soft white feathers
It sounds like rolling blue seas
It smells like fresh cut lavender
It looks like blooming red roses
It tastes like lobster drenched in butter
I love speeding
It's freedom to me
Speed
Speed is a wonderful experience for me
When I'm speeding
I can be anything I want and go anywhere I want
For instance, I could be an Alvin Ailey dancer
Spinning onstage in New York City
Speed
When I am speeding, I can be a Vogue model
Strutting a Paris runway
Speed
When I am speeding, I can be a geisha
Wearing a kimono, eating sushi, and drinking sake
Speed
Speeding gives me the chance to win
A Nobel prize in economics
Despite my learning disability
Speed
I love speeding
Because I can travel back in time to places where I was happy
Speed
Is joy
Is happiness
Is danger
Is sadness
Is love
Is hurt
Speed is everything to me!!!
An African-American woman with cerebral palsy raising a son alone in Emeryville, California,
Monique Harris began writing poems to speak out against the injustices she witnessed or to give voice to her feelings
and pain. She runs a graphic design/communication board business at the Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay
Area, Inc. in Oakland.
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