_Ready and able
Every day I face the long way round
Just to do my shopping in the town
’cos if there’s one thing about these chairs
they don’t much handle any sort of stairs
I sit at the bottom looking towards the sky
Or perched at the top, trying not to cry
When I ask for help but only get a passing frown
I often wish someone would just shove me down!
You look at me all queer
Or right on past me … as if I’m not here
Why, oh why, can you not see
Beyond my perceived disability
When you hear a slow click, click, clicking behind you
No it ain’t a stalker, it’s just me ’n’ my clumsy walker
on my feet I’m all unsteady, but I’ll
get to where I’m going when I’m ready
Because amid the hustle and bustle
I’m happy with my shuffle
if it takes an hour or two, that’ll do me
…. what about you?
Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t see
I’m not speechless and I can hear
so chat to my dog and tweak his ear
but don’t forget you can talk to me.
I might be deaf but I know what you’re feeling
Your movements, your eyes all betray
What I go through every day
That it’s dealing with me you want to elude
Hey mate, it’s time to change your attitude
Why, oh why, can you not see
Beyond my perceived disability
My head is great (thanks for asking, mate)
But about lower down I can’t say
heard a crunching sound when I got speared into the ground
and I’ve not felt a thing since that day
surgeons say it mightn’t be so tragic
’cos with every day comes medical magic
but I seem to rely more on prayers than hope
at other times wishing I could loop a rope.
I wobble when I walk and I dribble when I talk
I love a drink, like sharing jokes
… and if no-one’s watching, maybe a smoke
I cheer at the footy and cry at the news
I can put forward my personal views. (aside: Swann? What a wanker!)
I can keep a secret … and tell a few, too
So come on over, pull up a pew
We can talk about sport, global warming and rates
And before you know it, we’ll be old mates.
It’s amazing the many things you see
When you look beyond my perceived disability
I’m just a grown up girl living in a children’s world
My face looks rather funny ’n’ me nose is often runny
and life for me’s a different place to be
mostly it’s full of wonder
even when I make a blunder
But I get the shits when you stare at my tits
and don’t say a word to me
Why, oh why, can you not see
Beyond my perceived disability
was a normal sorta bloke before I had a stroke
now, someone’s got to fed me
and to dress me and relieve me
I pee myself and poop me pants
You’d never think I dream of romance
Can’t get out a word, so it cannot be heard
that I’ve got the hots for my carer.
I’m sure she knows, ’cos it sticks out and shows
when she strips off my clothes for a shower!
I see you cringe when I have a swearing binge
or jump and down and throw things round
but because I am autistic, I often go ballistic, so
imagine how it feels to deal with me all the time.
I’m a roller coasting cruise of ever-ranging moods,
When I’m good, I ain’t so good
when I’m bad, I’m bloody awful.
It’s a nightmare that never ends and which doctors cannot mend
And it’s driven both my parents around the bend.
Put your mind in another space
And imagine yourself taking my place
Then, only then, you might get to see
Beyond my perceived disability.
© eoin macdhugail 2007
Every day I face the long way round
Just to do my shopping in the town
’cos if there’s one thing about these chairs
they don’t much handle any sort of stairs
I sit at the bottom looking towards the sky
Or perched at the top, trying not to cry
When I ask for help but only get a passing frown
I often wish someone would just shove me down!
You look at me all queer
Or right on past me … as if I’m not here
Why, oh why, can you not see
Beyond my perceived disability
When you hear a slow click, click, clicking behind you
No it ain’t a stalker, it’s just me ’n’ my clumsy walker
on my feet I’m all unsteady, but I’ll
get to where I’m going when I’m ready
Because amid the hustle and bustle
I’m happy with my shuffle
if it takes an hour or two, that’ll do me
…. what about you?
Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t see
I’m not speechless and I can hear
so chat to my dog and tweak his ear
but don’t forget you can talk to me.
I might be deaf but I know what you’re feeling
Your movements, your eyes all betray
What I go through every day
That it’s dealing with me you want to elude
Hey mate, it’s time to change your attitude
Why, oh why, can you not see
Beyond my perceived disability
My head is great (thanks for asking, mate)
But about lower down I can’t say
heard a crunching sound when I got speared into the ground
and I’ve not felt a thing since that day
surgeons say it mightn’t be so tragic
’cos with every day comes medical magic
but I seem to rely more on prayers than hope
at other times wishing I could loop a rope.
I wobble when I walk and I dribble when I talk
I love a drink, like sharing jokes
… and if no-one’s watching, maybe a smoke
I cheer at the footy and cry at the news
I can put forward my personal views. (aside: Swann? What a wanker!)
I can keep a secret … and tell a few, too
So come on over, pull up a pew
We can talk about sport, global warming and rates
And before you know it, we’ll be old mates.
It’s amazing the many things you see
When you look beyond my perceived disability
I’m just a grown up girl living in a children’s world
My face looks rather funny ’n’ me nose is often runny
and life for me’s a different place to be
mostly it’s full of wonder
even when I make a blunder
But I get the shits when you stare at my tits
and don’t say a word to me
Why, oh why, can you not see
Beyond my perceived disability
was a normal sorta bloke before I had a stroke
now, someone’s got to fed me
and to dress me and relieve me
I pee myself and poop me pants
You’d never think I dream of romance
Can’t get out a word, so it cannot be heard
that I’ve got the hots for my carer.
I’m sure she knows, ’cos it sticks out and shows
when she strips off my clothes for a shower!
I see you cringe when I have a swearing binge
or jump and down and throw things round
but because I am autistic, I often go ballistic, so
imagine how it feels to deal with me all the time.
I’m a roller coasting cruise of ever-ranging moods,
When I’m good, I ain’t so good
when I’m bad, I’m bloody awful.
It’s a nightmare that never ends and which doctors cannot mend
And it’s driven both my parents around the bend.
Put your mind in another space
And imagine yourself taking my place
Then, only then, you might get to see
Beyond my perceived disability.
© eoin macdhugail 2007
