Aprblem

In the spirit of the HomeGworls & All The Gworls 💌
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Prompt: What has love/does love look like to and for you?

After You
I will be content to spend
the rest of my chapter here,
a second pair of eyes to yours
looking only upon that which
has tasted the pleasure of your gaze
smelling flowers by the shop front
only after you call my attention
to the bright beauty of their petals
I will find no greater purpose here
than to be the adlibs to your song
the soundtrack to this film
that is us, waking up together
in Cork and learning
to make pasta from scratch
and then, never doing it again
because we agree that the
pasta from Tesco tastes better
It will serve me well to live
whatever is left of my years
as a shadow, cast only
beneath your light
that when I walk into a room
and a joke is told
I will search first for your
laughter before I allow mine

and when at 3am your hands search
for me in the flickering led light
looking to make music of our bodies
I will play your strings first to the crescendo
and then, follow after you.

- she/her, le***an
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***an

People always ask, “What is wrong with you?”

There’s nothing wrong with me. With us.

Ableism, prejudice, discrimination are rampant because we collectively decide(d) that being disabled is a problem. We collectively decide(d) that disability is a problem. And if we embrace disability as a word and as a concept, it is no longer a problem.

For the month of July, and going forward, remember:
+ We do not exist for you to feel better about your life.

+ We do not exist so that you can be grateful that you do not live our realities.

+ Disabled people do not owe you an explanation. Not our privacy, medical histories, backstories—nothing.

+ You too are one accident, one health situation away from being disabled. You are no better.

+ Disabled people know what we need. You don’t need to tell us.

+ Disabled people are strong, resilient, and we know ourselves.
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