“Well, we’ll find that out”[1] thought the doctor when she said she was autistic laid twenty mattresses on a pea as a trick wondering if she could feel it but she slept well not even scarcely never did she complain oh had black and blue all over her body now they knew she was faking for a real autistic girl is hypersensitive and the pea was put in the DSM-5 “where it may still be seen if no one has stolen it” the girl remains undiagnosed and is still masking [1] With quotes from the original tale. About the author:
Charlotte Poitras is a queer neurodivergent artist-entrepreneur based in Montréal, with more than 100 publications internationally, spanning literature, theatre, visual arts, and audiovisual work. She handles mainstream culture like playdough to make it her own and defend social causes in both shocking and entertaining ways.
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no one wrote a tale about the ugly step-sister she used to be beautiful and fair with her heart black and ugly but they made her ill-favored so it would be easier to see she mocked the princess like she had been laughed at she took away her pretty dresses so pleasing, she would be a little less “those who earned food must earn it” she learned how to fight by being hit “comb our hair, brush our shoes, and make her buckles fast”[1] maybe she needed help, maybe she had to ask she danced for a man that wouldn’t hold her hand fought for a place where they laughed at her face cut her toes shorter to fit in a shoe never tailored for her “there they go, there they go! There is blood on her shoe; The shoe is too small, Not the right bride at all!” she cried as she couldn’t be loved, only fall for she was unpretty she did not deserve romance nor pity only shame and nowhere in the original tale does anyone remember her name About the author:
Charlotte Poitras is a queer neurodivergent artist-entrepreneur based in Montréal, with more than 100 publications internationally, spanning literature, theatre, visual arts, and audiovisual work. She handles mainstream culture like playdough to make it her own and defend social causes in both shocking and entertaining ways.
The Beast lived in a grand, old castle, while many animal servants scurried around. He was presumed feeble-minded because he could barely talk, his body grotesque. At the end of the fairytale, the Beast becomes a handsome prince again, able to profess his love. All lived happily ever after. Our experiences mirror one another. A severe stroke sewed my mouth shut, and handcuffed me in a hospital prison for months. Others assume I am simple-minded because aphasia scrambles my words, and my right side is broken and disfigured. Unfortunately, my progress is on a treadmill, never moving forward. Roadblocks remain. There is no happy ending. About the author:
Rochelle M. Anderson lives in Minnesota, USA. She is an attorney who had a severe stroke in 2007 and almost died. She is still disabled with difficulty walking, and because of aphasia struggles with reading and writing. Ms. Anderson is the author of Stormy Road: Reawakening from Stroke and Aphasia. She has been published in four chapbooks, and several online and written poetry collections. Writing poetry has helped her recover, and dictation fuels her words.
In the bathroom, look in the mirror and see my reflection. In my mind, I see a child aged eight who spends all day looking for the Four-Leaf clover and blowing the biggest bubble possible. In a flash, the light changes, and you look into the magic mirror, see a young adult twenty-eight years old. I ask the mirror if I will have a happy life. The mirror says “Yes, Rochelle”. I am grown up, will I find a job? I often see glimpses of my eight-year-old self in the reflection, and remember those times with pride. Another moment, now the mirror is cracked. I see a changed person struggling, unhappy, and troubled. Much sadness and misfortune visible in the distorted image. At the end, I look in the mirror shattered into many pieces. I see the lines in my face that show all the troubled times, the sorrow. Can I continue my life, or am I ready to let it all go? About the author:
Rochelle M. Anderson lives in Minnesota, USA. She is an attorney who had a severe stroke in 2007 and almost died. She is still disabled with difficulty walking, and because of aphasia struggles with reading and writing. Ms. Anderson is the author of Stormy Road: Reawakening from Stroke and Aphasia. She has been published in four chapbooks, and several online and written poetry collections. Writing poetry has helped her recover, and dictation fuels her words.
A fairytale with three wishes, enchanting fables of dragons, elves, witches. My story contrasts, recovering from weakness, aphasia, and a damaged brain. My first wish would be strength returned. The magic wand waved, made me tremble with excitement. But instead blurted out “I want disability.” So, my right side was still hobbled, but at least I could park in handicapped spaces. My second wish was to cure my trouble speaking. But instead, because of aphasia babbled “I want lasagna.” So, I still could not talk, but at least I could eat some steamy pasta with gooey cheese. My third wish was to make by brain perfect. But instead, jabbered “I want my brain frozen.” The fairy gave me an icy slushie to drink. So, I had a headache on a hot day, my brain fizzled, but at least I was refreshed. My three wishes failed, so, it is back to the beginning. Weakness, aphasia, and a damaged brain. About the author:
Rochelle M. Anderson lives in Minnesota, USA. She is an attorney who had a severe stroke in 2007 and almost died. She is still disabled with difficulty walking, and because of aphasia struggles with reading and writing. Ms. Anderson is the author of Stormy Road: Reawakening from Stroke and Aphasia. She has been published in four chapbooks, and several online and written poetry collections. Writing poetry has helped her recover, and dictation fuels her words.
In realms of thought where dreams reside Imagination blazing, reality being Visions dance, unbounded and wide Excusing torment plans The hellhounds of demons In your head dancing Creating worlds, both strange and freeing And felicitously prancing Masked as the devil The mind, a canvas for ideas to flow With distorted evil Frightening faces of anger That appear forever In your sight dimensions Are pestiferous reflections Of falling angels unkind Moving in your mind With every stroke, a story to bestow A tapestry of wonders, yet untold In a transcending energy tune Picking your brain to a ruin For end times coming soon About the author:
A native of South Detroit, Michigan, now residing in Hampstead, New Hampshire, Daniel Miltz is a seasoned freelance writer and poet whose life bridges the realms of technical precision and creative expression. With a distinguished 40-year career as a Mechanical Engineering Designer in high-level government aerospace programs, Daniel brings to his literary craft the same discipline and depth that defined his engineering pursuits. His poetic journey spans decades and continents of thought, earning him over 1,600 accolades across various respected poetry forums, inclusion in more than 250 anthologies, and the publication of two books to date. Deeply influenced by the free-spirited, improvisational style of the Beat Generation, Daniel found his literary voice during his formative bohemian years in California—a time marked by introspection, rebellion, and a search for authenticity through words. Poetry, for Daniel Miltz, is not merely an artistic outlet, but a lifelong vocation—an enduring lens through which he continues to explore the intersections of memory, identity, and human experience.
‘We should lose faith in….’ says the morning to every death.
Long ago there was a sunny kindergarten. And the Time is a galloping train. The crisscross. The brown sugar on the forehead of every battle. The unnecessary explosions in the womb. The wet gunpowder smiles at the ancient posterity. ‘Is there no wrong signal in the development?’ A voice remembers the words of Satan. ‘Let it rain in the tent….’ The ignorance in the funnel. The postcard meets the cuckoo in the middle of early autumn. Since evening there has been no evening post for the dead telegram.
Past monthly courses and curses, I am now thin-skinned. Just lickable red salt from five seconds holding the knife wrong while listening for imagined owls, while not writing “I love you” sonnets, while learning the power in weakness. About the author:
Nancy Scott has over 990 bylines in magazines, literary journals, anthologies, newspapers, and audio commentaries. She won First Prize in the 2009 International Onkyo Braille Essay Contest. Her work appears in *82 Review, Black Fox Literary Magazine, Braille Forum, Chrysanthemum, Kaleidoscope, One Sentence Poems, Persimmon Tree, Pulse Voices, Shark Reef, Wordgathering, and Yahoo News.
I’m too young
that’s what I always thought what I was taught you don’t get sick when you’re young It struck me like lightning sparking through my body leaving burns only I could see Illness doesn’t discriminate you can be given a life sentence without committing a crime chronic illness never saw that I was barely an adult that my life had just begun, it charged in and took control I didn’t stand a chance “I’m too young for this” an almost convincing line like a broken record ingrained into my brain telling me I should be okay 'you can’t get sick when you’re young' Yet you can never be ‘too young’, age isn’t part of the equation pain doesn’t ask for ID and sickness doesn’t check your year of birth a diagnosis doesn’t care that your life has just begun So I stand here now, without a choice learning to live with the life I was handed, pulling strength from setbacks and courage from downfalls claiming a life that is still mine unlearning the myths that society teaches
Each good day feels like a ticking time bomb,
waiting for the inevitable to explode. They say lightning never strikes twice, but maybe three, four, five times -- each hospital visit, another diagnosis, each bolt leaving burns I never asked for. The doctors call it chance. I call it a pattern etched in static, my body — a map marked with burns. I used to think lightning was rare, just a freak of nature. Now I know it waits in silence, and when it strikes, it doesn’t ask if I’m ready. They admire my strength, but they don’t see my fear. I’m more than the list they use to define me. I’m a daughter, a sister, a friend -- I’ve got ambitions, dreams that stretch beyond this storm. When will it end? I whisper to the thunder rumbling beneath my skin, but even as I crumble, I stand -- courageous, unbroken, and unashamed, a fierce light with the strength to carry on. |
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