midget

My ready defense is
self-deprecation.
Before you can stare,
I’ll tell a joke about my body.

Put you at ease,
it hurts me inside.
The boundary between humor
and reality is blurred.

My dwarfism as a disability
often comes into question.
Though its portrayal as your
entertainment does not.

It is my burden
to provide teachable moments.
My human perspectives
are what you see in a movie.

The well-meaning echo
“I forget that you are short”,
meant to be supportive
makes you oblivious to my struggles.

This identity denial
reduces my experiences.
How can you be an ally
to what you don’t believe you see?

Photo by Christian Widell on Unsplash