The truth is
people born with 47 chromosomes have been locked away
left alone and died alone
in voids of confusion and loneliness
throughout history and throughout the world

The truth is
Some still do
…
47 chromosomes
do not preclude a human from learning
from feeling
from reaching for more

Science can see this trisomy
before a mother
feels her child developing
Science cannot see possibility
Science cannot tell the future
Neither can you
Neither can I

The truth is I need help
to facilitate my son’s reach
toward his potential
The truth is he has dreams for his future
do you have dreams, too?

The truth is he is no less human
no less worthy of love and respect
and a chance
He is no less than any other human

The truth is the future sometimes scares me
The truth is I also have hope
I know what it’s like to feel a love so overwhelming
its presence once frightened me
and now I can’t imagine life without this love

That is where my truth begins and ends.

 

 

April is National Poetry Month. I wrote a bit for The Road We’ve Shared website a few years ago about Truth. Today I took that idea, and made another poem-ish.