When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking
Informant information:
Mike and Sue have a daughter who has autism. She is twenty years old and participates in the “My Own Voice” choir, a choir for children with special needs in Andover, Massachusetts.
Type of lore: Customary
Genre: Tradition
Language: English
Country of Origin: United States of America
Social / Cultural Context: This poem is passed on to new members of the special needs community – these new members are family members of children who have been recently diagnosed. It is unique in it’s own way because it is meant to give the family a sense of what their child is feeling, because ascertaining that from a child who cannot speak is very difficult.
Poem:
“When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking”
When you thought I wasn’t looking, you hung my first painting on the refrigerator and I wanted to paint another.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, you fed a stray cat and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, you baked a birthday cake just for me and I knew that little things were special things.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, you kissed me at night and I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes we can cry.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, you smiled and it made me want to look that pretty too.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, you cared and I wanted to be everything I could be.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked and I wanted to say thanks for all those things you did when you thought I wasn’t looking.
–Your special child
Informant’s comments: