They want to trap you in the flatness of their paper charts
They lay snares of straight lines
and sharp corners
Because you are different
they name you with short, sharp words
                                    autistic
                                                A.D.D.
                                                            Hyper

They say something's wrong
                                    He won't speak
                                                        when spoken to
He won't count to five
                                    or say his ABC's
                                    or play with other kids his age

With pens poised above graphs they wait
"What color is the umbrella, Alex?"
You look through them
                                    past the picture of the yellow umbrella
                                    past the calm biege walls
                                    through time
                                                        and space

Tattooed behind your cautious eyes is the path through the Milky Way
In the dark of your room when I lean down to kiss you
I can still see how the stars laid themselves out
and guided you down to nestle
                                    under my
                                              ribs

When you were born I didn't count fingers and toes
Instead, like momma bear, I nuzzled you and breathed in your familar scent
You smelled like new clothes and cedar and the water from the river behind
                                                                                  my grandfather's house

I touched the oblong scar on your belly
knowing then you were a gift from the spirits
what had made that mark
                                    musket ball?
                                                    Arrowhead?
                                                                    Spear?

The woman with the clip board calls you 'cute' and 'precious'
She can sense the agenda stamped on your soul
But she doesn't have the words to articulate
so she speaks in baby talk, thinking it's you
                                                    who doesn't understand

The nurse bends down to peer into your eyes
I want to ask her if she can see it too
But she turns away without comment
maybe the bright reason in the room has nullified the answers
                                                     that I find there
the same way the blinding lights of the city
wash away the path
                          through the stars
                                                    at night