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“May I sit in your lap?”
I don’t have a chance to reply,
Before her mother swoops in,
To “fix” the situation.
——————————
“Why are you in a wheelchair?”
I am cut off by a father,
“Don’t ask that! It’s rude!”
The child apologizes in a small murmur
—————————–
“I love your hair
and your wheelchair!”
I want to say thank you,
But a parent apologizes,
Before I can get it through
my still clinched teeth.
—————————-
There’s only been one time
a child has commented
my disability,
And their parents not
Telling them no.

The parents asked me
If they were bothering me.
I said no,
And the little kid,
She made a friend.
—————————-

The problem is not your kids,
It’s you teaching them,
Everything they’ve done,
Or said,
To disabled people,
Was wrong.
If you could back off,
I will treat them the same
As you would.
Except maybe I’ll be nicer.
And they will treat me
Like a human being.

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