Stuart Sanderson

A MIXED BLESSING

The sun is streaming downward in my room,
it is late December.
Christmas is a few days away;
the holiday music is playing in the hallway.
Cheer is in air and joy to the world.
I turn on my television to CNN,
they are covering the wounded soldiers
coming back from Mosul Iraq.
t was a bomb that blew up in their cafeteria.
One by one the stretchers started
to come from the plane
to the hospital buses and awaiting ambulances.
Then my heart began to swell up with sadness,
as the soldiers were coming down with IV tubes
and bandages attached to their bodies.
I have been disabled for my entire life,
some of those kids are less than half of my age:
They have just started with their lives:
but now, they are facing
a life time having disabilities.
I am sitting in my own wheelchair:
all warm and comfortable.
Who is more lucky?
Silent Night is now playing in the hall.

Stuart Sanderson is a resident of Inglis House in Philadelphia. He was a winner in the 2001 Triton College Poetry competition. His work has been published in Ariel, Zillah, Quasimodo's Eyes, Poet's Fantasy and the Philadelphia Tribune. His autobiographical essay, "You've Go to Live" which chronicles his life with of cerebral palsy has been featured in educational material and forums.