the
kitchen pots and plates
and
flicks a saucepan lid
with
practised hands
assured
that
it will spin upon its burnished rim
and
spin again in sunlight
tossing
arcs of gold
repeatedly
while
shadows dance
in
patterns on the floor
His
loving eyes will follow
every
turn
and
arching arms enfold
its
shining space
It
slows and stumbles
gurgles
to a halt
The
silence fills
his
open mouth
Tenaciously
he
gently lifts it in the air
to
spin again
While
all around
the
world waits
copyright Jo Collett 1994
First published in Scope, the magazine of Fellowship of Australian Writers in Queensland
this poem was written when the eldest of my two sons was about four years old and I was coming to terms with his diagnosis of autism. Like a rock thrown into a calm pond, this disability was to create ripples which touched every surface of the lives of my husband, my younger son and myself. My little plate-spinning toddler is now a young man who works, drives his own car, studies and has a deep faith in God. To those families just starting out down this road, I encourage you to hold fast to faith, hope and love. It's a difficult journey and not one that any of us would choose, but God goes before and beside all of the way.
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