The poetry collection series continues here on, “The World of Autism”, by collaborating with another self-advocate from the community, Scott Norman Rosenthal! He was a guest on the blog. Scott Norman grew up writing poetry, and he wanted to share some of his own poems here. The 2nd poem in the series is by Scott called, “The Malingerer Goes to the Movies”:

   “The Malingerer Goes to the Movies,”

          (a Dis-Ability Coming-Out  poem,  for Colin Kempner, and Judith Wright)

                                        1.

                         You’re sitting there,

                and it’s getting harder to breathe.

               It feels as if a little man,  like a gnome,

                           has crept up the back of your seat,

                and dropped a net into your head,

                                    over your brain…

    You glance at the woman sitting next to you,

                   and she isn’t there…

    You look at the screen, and it seems unreal,

                   like a bad film…

                        Are you in a theater at all?

                 Are you in a room filled with water?

                     ARE THERE ANY PEOPLE HERE!?   

                                      2.

        Show’s over, you’re out in the parking lot,

                         wondering how to get home…

                                         (Scott Norman Rosenthal, Autumn ’82)