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Topic: "CRIPPLE LULLABY" by Cheryl Marie Wade

BLAKE 3:16
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2978

posted 26 September 2002 06:11 PM

I found the following poem by Cheryl Marie Wade on page 409, of The Disabilities Studies Reader, edited by Lennard J. Davis, Routledge, New York and London, 1997.

CRIPPLE LULLABY

I'm trickster coyote in a gnarly-bone suit
I'm a fate worse than death in shit-kickin' boots

I'm the nightmare booga you flirt with in dreams
'Cause I emphatically demonstrate: It ain't what it seems

I'm a whisper, I'm a heartbeat, I'm "that accident," and goodbye
One thing I am not is a reason to die

I'm homeless in the driveway of your maincured street
I'm Evening Magazine's SuperCrip of the Week

I'm the girl in the doorway with no illusions to spare
I'm a kid dosed on chemo, so who said life is fair

I'm a whisper, I'm a heartbeat, I'm "let's call it suicide," and a sigh
One thing I am not is a reason to die

I'm the poster child with doom-dripped eyes
I'm the ancient remnant set adrift on ice

I'm that Valley girl, you know, dying of thin
I'm all that is left of Cheshire Cat's grin

I'm the Wheelchair Athlete, I'm every Baby Doe
I'm Earth's last volcano, and I am ready to blow

I'm a whisper, I'm a heartbeat, I'm a genocide survivor, and Why?
One thing I am not is a reason to die.

I am not a reason to die.

From: Babylon, Ontario | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged

SuperGimp
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3090

posted 27 September 2002 04:05 PM

She is terrific, here is a webzine she helped start:

http://www.mouthmag.com/

Love it. Thanks for printing it, Blake.

[ September 27, 2002: Message edited by: SuperGimp ]

From: Dixie-USA | Registered: Sep 2002 | IP: Logged

BLAKE 3:16
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2978

posted 29 September 2002 05:24 PM

Thanks for the tip on the link. I'll need to spend some time on it.

I'm working on a school presentation on immigration and disability. I found a really great book (so far) by James I. Charlton called "Nothing About Us Without Us". I focuses a lot on Third World disability struggles, and comes from something of an existentialist-Marxist perspective theoretically.

From: Babylon, Ontario | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged

lagatta
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2534

posted 29 September 2002 07:00 PM

Cockney punker Ian Dury (of the Blockheads) was severely affected by polio at 7 (one of the last, in the developed world...) and wrote a lot of tough lyrics that touched on being a "cripple" and people's reactions, including "Spasticus". I'm posting a link. Warning, some people might find these lyrics offensive. Dury said that handicapped kids loved them, when he played schools and centres for them: http://www.countrybumpkin.ndo.co.uk/durylyrics.html

From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002 | IP: Logged

SuperGimp
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3090

posted 02 October 2002 06:46 PM

Blake, if you are truly interested, will unload my wonderful collection of links on you! (or for any other interested party)

Society for Disability Studies
http://www.uic.edu/orgs/sds/index.html

Ragged Edge magazine/Disability Rag
www.ragged-edge-mag.com

World Institute on Disability
http://www.wid.org/

Uppity Disability dot net
http://www.uppity-disability.net/

Disability Online
http://www.disabilityonline.com/

Disability History Museum (this is incredible!)
http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/

DRM Guide to Disability Resources on the Internet
http://www.disabilityresources.org/

Bioethics and Disability (the guy that does this site is a Thalidomide survivor and scientist)
http://www.bioethicsanddisability.org/start.html

The Tyranny of Materiality (Personal homepage of activist Constance Layman, but she hasn't updated it in a awhile...very neat, though)
http://www.allomorphe.com/

John Callahan, the famous gimp cartoonist
(warning, may offend)
http://www.callahanonline.com/

From: Dixie-USA | Registered: Sep 2002 | IP: Logged

BLAKE 3:16
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2978

posted 03 October 2002 04:52 PM

Thanks, SG!

From: Babylon, Ontario | Registered: Aug 2002 | IP: Logged

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