Ever on the outside
always looking in
often wishing she could wear
someone else’s skin
Ever on the outside
bound in solitude,
knowing anything she says
may be misconstrued
Ever on the outside
painting out her frown
borrowed gestures mirrored
in the role of a circus clown
Ever on the outside
hoping nobody can tell
the fears that haunt her every day
inside her paper shell
When a teenager is in any way autistic, it is like everyone else has a special language that nobody taught you. Facial expressions are a huge part of our communication system. If you don’t instinctively understand that language, you can spend many hours wishing you were somebody else.