The Bright Light

Sometimes we shut ourselves off
Trap ourselves in our own mind
Believing it is safer for our demons to morph
With the darkness inside our head, tough to find

In those moments, as the darkness slips in
The drumbeats of our heart pound in our ears
Contemplating what was and how it had been
Thrashing our joys even though it's been years

We've cribbed and we've cried
Wanting people to comprehend us
We think we have tried
And end up carrying load, heavy as a bus

But every dark tunnel has a bright light
And believe it or not, so does our head
We just have to try and fight
And put our demons to bed


 -Jahnvi

Autism

My precious child of seven
When tries to talk to me
I don't comprehend when
He tells me how his food should be

It took me months to understand
A simple message he tried to convey
Nevertheless I hold his hand
Even when there's nothing much to say

Months later, he tried telling me through his actions
What he first meant
I could now understand in fractions
And felt terrible to not have been there when he had to vent

I made him go to school
There they called him the 'crazy kid'
There was nothing they wouldn't do to seem cool
Forgetting how in abacus to them he outdid

Sometimes he ate twice
Sometimes threw a fit
Sometimes he showered thrice
And sometimes under a table i found him crying shouting that he wanted to quit

My precious child is now eleven
Each day tough as a nail
He fights mockery twenty four seven
It is an imprisonment with no bail

Time has flown
I look at his photograph
Little withered and little torn.
I wish I could take the burden on his behalf.