Lisa M. Maloney

ALTERNATIVE REASONING

In a perfect world, "handicapped" carts would
be for the children who so love them, hooting
with laughter as it beeps before backing up -
not to those of us that are grown and healthy
in every way, save for a few missing parts.

Wheelchairs would be for people whose feet
have gotten them into trouble, wandering
when they shouldn't; not for people whose
feet were minding their own innocent business
before being taken away.

If things were as they should, crutches would be
reserved as play-toys for children - let's see who can
use them to jump the highest! Canes would only be
props for a vaudeville comedy act, and prosthetics
would mean fake eyelashes, not legs or hands.

If we lived in a perfect world, I wouldn't be writing this.
I would be out playing in the woods, carelessly happy,
but I'm not. I'm watching a young man wheel by
without his legs, wondering why it's the least obvious
wounds that cripple us most.

Lisa M. Maloney is an avid people-watcher. She writes poetry, non-fiction and grants, and blogs at http://writerinfo.blogspot.com. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska.