The Glass case

As I stay locked in my glass case

And watch the world go by,

I wonder…

Do you ever see

The smile on my face,

The twinkle in my eyes?

If you just paused to look for a second

You may have caught a glimpse..

Would you care to join me sometimes

Inside my case?

Maybe then, you would hear my screams for help

And feel my pain..

You walk past me as though

I do not exist..

Even if you do stop

You watch me as you would

A clownfish in an aquarium!!

Sometimes I break free of this case

And try to reach out to you

With a sound, an echo

With an awkward hug or a shove

But you push me away

Or step back in fear!!

You are not the one locked up

In a glass case

Yet you are too afraid

To break it open for me

And I just cannot do it

On my own - inside out.

I have no choice but to wait

Inside my glass case

I have no choice but to hope

That one day you will choose

To look at me and smile J

My son , Nishant  loves interacting with everything around him and that includes people .

He is also very aware and sensitive – the first one to hug or kiss me if he even remotely senses I am upset and the first one to jump in joy when I am happy .

It breaks my heart when my beautiful non verbal , autistic  son tries in his own ways to reach out to other children and adults and they just walk past him or push him away .As he is growing up I see him sometimes giving up on the rest of the world .

I am thankful for our  family ,some close friends , mother  nature and animals who always respond to him .

But there are millions out there like him – who are on the fringes of society like him – disabled , homeless , poor , illiterate and this poem is dedicated to all of them in the hope that it will touch one more person to open their hearts to see in these children/people another human being just like them .