
Happy almost national haiku day! I love writing poetry, so I want to make space here to celebrate different poetry styles to talk about disability. For Limerick day, I told three stories about navigating my life with a disability. To honor national haiku day, I want to try to contrast different life events with my experiences. Haikus originate in Japan, and follow a structure based on syllables. The first and third line each have five syllables, and the second line has seven syllables. Typically, haikus focus on seasonal topics and do not rhyme.
One of the harder things about having hereditary spastic paraplegia is that it is harder for me to go outside in the winter. I cannot move to colder climates because my leg muscles will tighten up, which makes walking more challenging and painful. I used to like the snow, so this has been a bit of a loss. I am not sure if I will ever try to do things like ski again, and I am limited in picking academic programs in colder climates. I want to highlight how physical disabilities can control more than might meet the eye.
The winter snow falls
While I mount up my fall boots
I cannot go out
One of the hardest things for me to do with autism is keep friends. I have a fairly easy time making friends, but keeping friends is the hard part. There is an in-between point in friendship after getting to know each other, but before becoming close friends. There seem to be rules for staying friends with people that I have not mastered. I have struggled feeling rejected and alone, because I cannot see what friendship rules I have broken. I wrote this poem to highlight the vulnerability of making a bid for friendship as a kid and now.
I reach out to share
A cookie I baked with love
Will anyone eat it?
Throughout my disability experiences, my greatest joy has been being in spaces where I can share my experiences to make navigating different spaces easier for someone else. I wrote this haiku to share that goal of mine as I enter the disability space. Thank you so much for reading these, and letting me share more about myself each week.
A dim light brightens
I aim to be a lantern
To share my journey
I hope you enjoyed learning more about how to make a haiku! If you have any questions, please leave me a comment over at @Anniekrollblog on Instagram and Facebook. I hope to see you next week!
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