Those Looks

by Stacey Ahern

Over and over
Everyday
I see it.
I see those looks
Like I disappoint them
I see it in their eyes.
They think I’m weird, strange.
I know I am.
I want to apologize.
I don’t want to be like this.
When I came to it was there.
No it wasn’t. I worked for it
Like a fish born into a pond
But forced to swim in the sea.
To be like this though?
To be stared at?
Like that fish floundering
On land.
Treated like I have
A contagious disease?
I don’t though and
They’re not bad people
By the way.
Just listen. Listen to
What we have to say.
Try to hear.
Hear through
Your own glare.
We might be okay.

Stacey Ahern is entering her senior year at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. She is a member of SLC's disability action group, Beyond Compliance. This poem is printed in their zine. She is a writer and an activist, who lives with brain injury. She is also my little sister and I am so proud of her.