"Flying with Wings of Steel"

When the night invites me to bed and sleep takes me to the land of dreams, I do not see myself with dis/ability.
When the sun succumbs to the starry sky and all the world is covered in quiet I can imagine that I am standing on steel.

I do not stumble in my dreams
I walk freely in my dreams
And my feet don’t trip themselves and neither do they hesitate.

I am flying with wings of steel.

No eyes stare me down in my dreams
And no labels case me in.
No lonely souls call me to God
And no cliques lock me out.

In my dreams I step out free,
Flying with wings of steel.

I don’t sit out the dance in my dreams
Cause my knees don’t buckle in my dreams
And my legs don’t drag and neither do they hesitate.

I am flying with wings of steel.

I don’t pick up Pity in my dreams
And I drop Fear off on the Highway.
Ignorant souls don’t come around like bees
And no fool calls my condition Malady.
In my dreams canes are only
Wings of Steel.

I don’t open doors like heavy burdens in my dreams
I don’t play Superwoman lifting my wheels over inaccessible sidewalks
And my balance does not betray me and neither do I hesitate.

I am flying with wings of steel.

I don’t collect Tears on a trail
And failure does not faze me in my dreams
Ignorant souls don’t avoid me like I’m Poison Ivy
And Jealousy does not sting me
Label my condition Malady.
In my dreams my canes are only Wings of Steel.

I am not a “she” or an “it” in my dreams
I am not a wonder in my dreams
I am not a miracle of medical ingenuity
No one stands with mouth agape and lips smiling and eyes glazed in pity because I dare to be Laughing. Because I dare to be Speaking, Living, Breathing. Because I dare to be. Normal.

I am flying with wings of steel.

I can’t drop my canes in mid-step
Cause the world would stop with a stumble
And I can’t claim a cure from the Almighty
Because He gave me the steel with which I stand.

I won’t make me over for your Ignorance, stranger
And I won’t counter your Fire with my Fear.
I won’t sell myself at a thousand when I am worth a millionTo satisfy your stupidity stranger
And neither will I hesitate
To stand on my steel.