WIP
by Kristina Daniele
I’m in pain.
Mental. Physical.
The result’s the same.
Retreating into silence.
Resting my brain.
Taking deep breaths.
Trying to reframe.
Writing in my journal.
Listening to myself.
Trying to get centered
But drifting to the left.
I’m in pain.
Mental. Physical.
Emotionally, it’s the same.
Stimming to reset
Moving to get rest.
Blocking out the world,
And listening to myself.
Trying to get centered
But drifting to the left.
I'm a work in progress.
I'm not finished yet.
Nothing in this culture wants us to have rest. Wants us to have ease. Wants us to have careThe activities that constitute care are crucial for human life. We defined care in this way: Care is “a species activity that includes everything that we do to maintain, continue,… More. The softness was stolen. Our dreamspace has been stolen. Our space to just be has been stolen.
A group of disabledThe label “disabled” means so much to me. It means I have community. It means I have rights. It means I can be proud. It means I can affirm myself… MorequeerBeing queer means constantly questioning what’s considered “normal” and why that norm gets privileged over other ways of being. It means criticizing who sets these norms and recognizing the privilege… More Black folks talk and laugh at a sleepover, relaxing across two large beds. Everyone is dressed in colorful t-shirts and wearing a variety of sleepWe can joke fondly about it now, but my forty-two-consecutive-month campaign against a full night’s sleep nearly broke my parents. They managed to hone hour-of-the-wolf parenting into a fine art… More scarves, bonnets, and durags. On the left, two friends sit on one bed and paint each other’s nails. On the right, four people lounge on a bed: one person braids another’s hair while the third friend wearing a C-PAP maskMasking is exhausting. Utterly utterly draining. I’ve had people say to me many times over the years “But WHY are you so tired? What have you been doing?” and I’ve… More laughs, and the fourth person looks up from their book. In the center, a bedside lamp illuminates the room in warm light while pill bottles adorn an end table.
A Black trans person with idiopathic hypersomnia sleeps contentedly on a bed of warm blue and purple clouds. They’re wearing an eye mask and their dark curly hair is wrapped in a colourful sleep scarf. A small purple bat plushie is nestled beside them. Behind the sleeping person is a window, bathing the room in warm afternoon light.
A fat Filipino person with a continual glucose monitor on their arm and insulin pump on their stomach lies on the chest of a transmasculine Black person, who has a bandage on their stomach post testosterone injection. The two are shirtless, wearing matching yellow and pink underwear, and looking content in sleep. A cream colored fluffy cat snuggles at the right edgeFor me this space of radical openness is a margin a profound edge. Locating oneself there is difficult yet necessary. It is not a “safe” place. One is always at… More of the bed and a smartphone reads 3:42 on the left.
Further readingThere are three types of reading: eye reading, ear reading, and finger reading.The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child’s Confidence and Love of Learning Most schools and… More,