unsolicited advice to the autistic kid with the piss yellow jacket and bitten tongue by Emerson Gray

Poem

Artist statement: Autistic children are often taught to mask their way through pain, both physical and emotional. There’s a sense of hiding that you’re forced to learn as a child if you want to be accepted by allistics, and then as an adult, you have to contend with the fact that hiding kept you safe in many ways, but it’s exhausting and not feasible to keep up forever. I wrote this poem to my younger self, as a reminder that the hiding isn’t forever, and that I’ve learned now when I can put the mask down.

unsolicited advice to the autistic kid with the piss yellow jacket and bitten tongue by Emerson Gray

Poem

Artist statement: Autistic children are often taught to mask their way through pain, both physical and emotional. There’s a sense of hiding that you’re forced to learn as a child if you want to be accepted by allistics, and then as an adult, you have to contend with the fact that hiding kept you safe in many ways, but it’s exhausting and not feasible to keep up forever. I wrote this poem to my younger self, as a reminder that the hiding isn’t forever, and that I’ve learned now when I can put the mask down.