You say you would be happy to help.
Open doors, carry bags, get food.
But anything more than that and a huge barrier springs up.
NO INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLAN
I no longer have one because you said I wouldn't need it anymore.
That I would always get the help I needed regardless.
But now that I need help, you make excuses about 'no proper paperwork'.
I dare you to live a day in my shoes and talk about paperwork.
Stand in the pouring rain for thirty minutes with aching legs and burning wrists.
While your body pleads with you to just sit down.
But there is nothing you can do except bargain with your shaking legs to keep standing.
Watching the rain soak into the concrete along with the last of your energy.
Stand there knowing that there is a bus that could keep you from all of this.
A bus made for people like you, with aides to help you on and off.
A half hour of waiting reduced to five minutes.
In that moment, do you care about paperwork?
Watch your legs spasm out of your control.
Feel the searing pain and the terror of helplessness.
Breathe carefully, sit as still as possible, do everything you can to quiet your muscles.
Finally, mercifully, stilling your legs, pray that they do not spasm again.
Do this knowing that there is a trained professional who could help you.
A woman who has known you since you were tiny, knows your condition.
A simple two minute stretch could relieve your cramped, erratic muscles.
In that moment, do you care about paperwork?
I do not have an IEP.
I am not in special education.
But I'm still disabled, I still need accommodations.
Which is more important: a form or wellbeing of your students?
YOU ARE READING
The Dump
PoetryA place for all the random stanzas that flow through my mind. My life in free verse. I try to write at least one poem a week, so they will be added as they're finished. In the meantime, PLEASE comment. Praise is nice, but constructive criticism help...
