Rumblings and mumblings

That’s all my lips can form.

Murmurs and whispers

That’s the loudest of my sounds.

A twisted body so

Disheveled and small.

Yes, I am

Special.

Stares and glares.

Mockery and discrimination.

Everyday gifts from people

Oh-so-kind.

“Stupid,” my teacher

Whispers to another.

“Into the last class she goes.”

A stinging heart and

Angry tears flood.

I want to shout, “No!’

But out comes a deafening nothing.

You call me Special?

I am not blind.

Or stupid.

Or thick.

I know that by Special, you mean

Idiot.

Why do you look at my

Tiny frame and

Think that since my body

Cannot function like yours,

My brain must be the same?

I can do

Anything I put my mind to.

I can learn.

I can live.

I can love.

I have so much.

So much to give.

But why won’t you let me?

I think

It is you who is disabled.

You are not able to see

Everything I can become.

Who I’m meant to be.

What I can and will do.

Yes, I am Special.

Yes.

But not the Idiot ‘Special’ you think.

I am me.

I

Am

Jane.

Remember that name.