‘Reality’ by Olya Pound

People float in and out. Something you have always told me, something that people throughout my life never stop telling me, but yet every time I think about it, there is something that I don’t want to admit in that sentence. People who are like people who I want to keep floating in and out; however, mentors and people who really truly care about you, such as you, Amy, have never flown in and out of my life.

You keep telling me that friends come and go. You keep telling me that there is a world outside of crippling reality. You keep telling me that there is a uni. You keep telling me to look forward. You keep telling me to be happy, to find a way through that happiness. You, as my mentor, are one of the reasons I keep going on a daily basis, because I know, regardless of my situation, regardless of how much explanation I give you, living with Cerebal Palsy, you will just understand.

Amy, a name that I carry with me
day in and day out
somebody very special, somebody that
doesn’t stop proving to me that cerebral palsy
isn’t a demon
somebody that, regardless of her own issues,
will always show up
I always feel a little lighter every single time I make
conversation with somebody called Amy
everybody needs an Amy in their life
somebody whose words can make you
feel less like you’re going crazy
somebody whose words can tell you you
are normal in a less-than-normal society
somebody whose words can tell you you are not going to struggle for the rest of your life
the way you think you are
somebody whose words can tell you
there is freedom out there,
even if it looks conventionally different
somebody whose words can tell you
there is a society that will
respect you
somebody whose words can tell you you deserve to be alive, without even trying to
convince you of that
Amy, whether you consider yourself a mentor
or not
I would quite like you to know that to me you are the brick to figuring out what cerebral
palsy looks like for me
you have given me a foundation, and a path
to look towards
Thank you