Sun-Spun
Margaret Williams
Poetry
She sits there,
Long unmown leaves tickling her feet,
Spinning. In the seeming silence,
Spinning. Amid the golden sun splashes.
She cares not for garish plastic toys
Not for her daydreams
Of boys and teenage love.
Instead she hears
A symphony in the tones
Of the ice-cream van.
Feels sparks of prismic colour
In the feel of the breeze on her face.
She spins, and fills herself
With the world that’s real to her.
The world she can touch and taste and hear,
Related in ways she does not understand.
But with a flicker of the eyes,
And a slight opening of her arms,
She invites you to join her.
To sit and spin in the afternoon sun.
Long unmown leaves tickling her feet,
Spinning. In the seeming silence,
Spinning. Amid the golden sun splashes.
She cares not for garish plastic toys
Not for her daydreams
Of boys and teenage love.
Instead she hears
A symphony in the tones
Of the ice-cream van.
Feels sparks of prismic colour
In the feel of the breeze on her face.
She spins, and fills herself
With the world that’s real to her.
The world she can touch and taste and hear,
Related in ways she does not understand.
But with a flicker of the eyes,
And a slight opening of her arms,
She invites you to join her.
To sit and spin in the afternoon sun.
I wanted this poem to capture a snapshot moment in the evening of a day last summer, and hoped it would enable me to express the wonder I felt at it. The girl in this poem is in her early teens*, severely autistic and we have been working together for several years in various situations. The point at which she invited me into her world was therefore, for me, a very moving experience and one I will never forget. I wanted to explore the fact that this girl was entirely at peace in her world, fascinated by the small things – the chime of an ice cream van! Therefore any invitation to join in with her (incredibly rare, she is usually uncomfortable around all people who want to come anywhere near her) was something to be cherished. In my opinion, only by relating to her world was I able to make any progress in our relationship or be able to show her anything of my world. I found this poem interesting to write as it let me think about what I really felt at that time.
*details changed to maintain patient confidentiality
Whole Person Care – Year One
I really enjoyed this poem. As someone who has experienced this, I particularly enjoyed the focus of the poem on the little things – the tips of the grass, the tones heard in the ice-cream van, the breeze on her face – all things that could have been overwhelming. Rather than focusing on the negatives that could’ve been, the poet focuses on the girl’s contentedness and the feelings of each aspect. The poem culminates in the girl inviting the poet to join her, an incredibly rare and treasured experience for both.
I feel that this poem shows autism in the way it should – not a disease, or else something negative or limiting, but simply something that helps people to perceive the world in different ways. The girl’s experience is being depicted as something poetic and beautiful. My favourite part of the poem the description of the breeze – “sparks of prismic colour”. I thought this was a great metaphor that gave me vivid insight into the girl’s experience. I thought it was really touching that the author and the girl have built up a relationship, to the point that the girl is comfortable inviting the author into her world.
This poem felt like a breath of fresh air to read. As someone who has a family member who is autistic, I really enjoyed the poet’s perspective of the girl: describing her to be captivated by the world around her rather than afraid of it.
The poet’s focus of the senses was particularly effective (‘symphony in the tones of the ice cream van’ , ‘sparks of prismic colour’), as it allows us to gain an insight into the way the girl perceives her surrounding. Her diagnosis is not described as something scary or bad (as autism often is described), but vividly and colourfully. The poet describes the girl to invite them to join, which is also heartwarming. It shows that patience and kindness (the poet had been working with the girl for many years) can allow people to show you beautiful sides of themselves. It reminds me what a privilege it will be to be a doctor and have others put trust in me, the way that the girl trusted the poet.