I wore braces to be more like them
to be better
I went to normal schools
because I was normal
I was asked to deny this movement
because this movement wasn't effective enough
I was taught to walk
because walking is always preferable
to not walking
I was taught to walk
so they wouldn't have to reform
their beautiful architecture
and if I couldn't walk fast enough
it was my problem and I was left behind
I was asked not to give birth to children
because they might be like me
those who made fun of me were told
their children would turn out like me
and this was meant to be some form
of kindness or protection
I asked myself to fit
the way they thought I should
so I could have their jobs
and their happy lives
and now I am exhausted
from their stupid asking
from my own stupid asking
Jennifer Bartlett is the author of Derivative of the Moving Image (UNM Press 2007) and (a) lullaby without any music (Chax 2012). Bartlett also co-edited, with Sheila Black and Michael Northen, Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability. She is currently writing a full-length biography of the poet Larry Eigner, and she will be teaching a poetry workshop in fall at St. Mark’s Poetry Project in NYC: Movement as Poetry: A Workshop on the Somatic and Dis/ability.She has also written for Brooklyn Rail.
You can find more information about Jennifer or how to purchase her written work here.