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.