30/30

Another Toy Story

If he had Woody, he would be ignored
the same way Andy eventually did
When Buzz Lightyear made a sound
he would run from the room
but he would love the sound of the cellophane
of the box he came in
my son never plays with plush toys, dolls or action figures
the way most kids have

Yet a wooden Eddie George stacking doll
that was given away at an Ohio State Hockey game
is one of his favorite toys
He disassembles them
tries to put them back together
then moves on to something else

A simple puzzle of a circle,
Square and triangle is the one he plays with the most
He will say the word out loud as he, slowly,
Puts the piece in the correct spot
Two year olds do this faster
I do not have the heart to throw it out

He will play with puzzles of letters, numbers,
Different types of cars and airplanes
Struggling to place the objects
Into the slot where they belong

In over confidence in his abilities
I got him a puzzle map of the United States
Every time he will take out the states of
Alaska, and Tennessee
Set them aside, then flip it over
As States fly all over the living room
Leaving us to clean up the mess, and learn
The state capitals as we do it

With my son, we do not look for the missing piece
He is complete, not a mystery
We try to put him together
Into a shape that can function
Not with smooth edges of perfection
But with strength, independence, language
In the end, as he always has been, a beautiful picture

Almost a Resumption of the Usual

Last night was another Writers' Block preliminary slam for team contention in the National Poetry Slam. The last three slams I have drawn either first or second and have not been able to make it to the second round. Probably more for my lack of quality work than anything else. Last night, I was relieved to draw the seven slot (my Scottish Wife said beforehand I'd go sixth), which put me in the middle of yet another twelve poet slam.

Did a new piece about the recent cow escapes in Central Ohio. It's silly, fun and just want I wanted to do. Threw in a bit of 'Go Dog Go!' and a nursery rhyme and it scored high enough to put me in a third place tie to move on into the second round.

Have to give a shout out to Paula (no, not that one!) who not only cheated death last week but participated in her first slam last night, and ended up in the second round!

Brought out another newish poem about cell phones going off during slam which I did at first draft a couple of weeks ago. It's sinister, and evil, but if you know me you know my feeling toward cell phones. Had no idea how it went over as the crowd was very quiet while I read it. Where they wondering whether their cell phones were on? Were they waiting for someone's phone to go off to see how I'd react? We'll never know.

I stayed in third place, barely, as Louise had a second round charge that nearly overtook me. Congratulations to Vernell and Scott who finished one, two.

The third place point definitely puts me into the Grand Slam, which was a point cushion I needed. There is one more preliminary slam on May 19th followed by the Grand Slam on the 26th.

Tomorrow I will post the 30th poem relating to autism in thirty days. I'll say this April project is about done, nearly ready to put the final one here now. It will wait. It's been an interesting month of shorter poems, a few forms I never would have taken the time to do (thank you Scott and Joanna) had it not been for the support and encouragement of several people. I'm proudest that I did not take the easy way out and do one haiku. Go me!

Thank you all for taking part in this project, and for witnessing a bit of what it is like to live with autism.

29/30

Transcript of my Son Speaking
(Macaronic verse?)

for Joanna Schroeder

Boo tee wee
Grapes, apples, bananas
chchchchchchchchchchchchchch
Do you want computer?
I want computer
I want pudding
Open please Daddy very good
Weeeee ooohhhh
Do you want lolly?
Bridge, mountain, volcano
Ba ba ba ba
Find baby burma
Ming Ming
Leeen ami
Thank you very good!
Dey might be giants?
Hi-oh!
Good job!
A dub a dub a dub ah
Bugga Bugga
Everybody ah hum
Circle, square, triangle
Say all done

28/30

Neil
(Pleiades?)

Not one time has he pointed and asked, 'What is it?'
Now, he'll name all the letters but counting
numbers is what he knows, up to thirty
Nuances in food labels he
notices and he will not eat a label he does not approve
Neurons firing at all times
Never does he sleep

27/30

Letters in a Row (alphabet)

A boy can discover every facet, gaining harmony, instinct.
Joy.
Knowing language may not occur
Persistent queries regarding stimulating the underlying vocabulary,
when X years zoom.


Lame ending, I know.

26/30

Spell it Out (Acrostic)

As he looks at imaginary lines in the wall
understand that he
things in pictures or sees
images out of the corner of his eye
Slowly, at his own pace, he learns how
many ways there are to survive

Five Left

First I see that Scott Woods wrote thirty poems in one day!

Show off!

Like I say. Crazy Hardcore Scott Woods. He also gave me some ideas on how to end the month. So thanks for refilling the well, son.

Then I saw the amazing Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz at Wild Goose Creative along with Charlene Fix.

It's one of those nights you just want to throw away your pens and paper, burn your previous work, pack it in and watch reality television for the rest of your life.

Instead you scribble a few things in notebooks in the Giant Eagle parking lot, find a six pack of Genesee Cream Ale in sixteen ounce cans, and hope for the best.