Remembering how to human

A short poem

Hi Friend,

It’s still Autism Awareness Month, so I wanted to share this poem that Juneau-based lit mag Tidal Echoes recently published about my daughter. Thank you, Tidal Echoes!

Love,

Summer

Remind us how

Oh, darling, sometimes I wonder 
if you are too human for this world
you feel too much, heart open 
and laid bare like the low tide 
or an apocalypse. 
How will you survive this world of machines? 
Is it no wonder I lay awake worrying? 

You remind us of who we were 
before we shut ourselves off from suffering—
our own and those of others—
before we somehow accepted it was OK to kill spiders 
and mosquitoes and laugh about people 
behind their back, doing whatever it took to belong 
and be loved by others 
when we could not love ourselves. 

Remind us how to be human again
vulnerable and sensitive and alive
shooting along the roots of the earth,
your favorite part of the video in the planetarium.
When you said I love you, Mommy, 
and I love myself most of all,
you reminded me how.

The Witch and the Goddess