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21d (edited) • Poem of the Week - Submissions
Submission for Poem of the week ⭐
Please Don't Call Me Difficult.
This poem is about a child with PDA! (Pathological Demand Avoidance - Autism)
—
They say I won’t
before I’ve tried.
They say I could
if only I would.
But wanting and doing
are not the same inside.
I want so badly it hurts.
To get it right,
to make you proud,
to be easy to love.
Then the fear arrives.
Loud.
Uninvited.
Certain.
Fear that if I fail,
you’ll sigh that familiar sigh.
Fear that trying will prove
I am the problem.
So my body says no
even when my heart is screaming yes.
Please understand —
this isn’t defiance.
It’s survival.
A nervous system
ringing alarms
where others hear encouragement
I’m not avoiding effort
I’m protecting hope.
Because if I don’t try,
I can still believe
I might succeed.
If you sit with me in the stuck,
if you don’t measure me by speed or obedience,
something loosens.
And one day, quietly,
without being told to,
I will reach out and try.
Not because I was forced,
but because I felt safe enough
to risk failing
and still be held. ❤️
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Submission for Poem of the week ⭐
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