HOW TO TALK TO A NEW LOVER ABOUT CEREBRAL PALSY by Eli Clare

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

HOW TO TALK TO A NEW LOVER ABOUT CEREBRAL PALSY by Eli Clare

Tell her: Complete strangers

have patted my head, kissed

my cheek, called me courageous.

Tell this story more than once, ask

her to hold you, rock you

against her body, breast to back,

her arms curving round, only

you flinch unchosen, right arm trembles.

Don’t use the word spastic.

In Europe after centuries

of death by exposure

and drowning,

they banished us

to the streets.

Let her feel the tension burn down your arms,

tremors jump. Take it slow: when she asks

about the difference between CP and MS,

refrain from handing her an encyclopedia.

If you leave, know that you will ache.

Resist the urge to ignore your body. Tell her:

They taunted me retard, monkey,

defect. The words sank into my body.

The rocks and fists left bruises.

Gimps and crips, caps

in hand, we still

wander the streets but now

the options abound: telethons,

nursing homes, welfare lines.