Cullen Poem by Randy McClave

I am mocked whenever I speak
So, I always turn the other cheek,
They say they don't understand what I say
And then they laugh at me anyway.
They mock me of my broken speech
Please, do not mock me, I always beseech,
But, they still enjoy mocking people like me
Even though I go to speech therapy.
Remember, when you mock me as you do
Your mocking says so much more about you,
It shows the type of person that you really are
And it shows off your scar.
I wonder if you'd mock me is if I were blind
Or if in a wheelchair I was inclined,
Or maybe if I was deaf
At me would you still snicker and bereft.
What if mentally I wasn't all there
Would you joke and laugh and point and stare,
Would you still laugh and mock me if you could
Sadly, I would say that you would.
Many times my speech pattern will change
So, my words I must quickly rearrange,
And if my situation or my thoughts get clustered
I quickly will become flustered.
Once again, I do not mutter
I have a speech impairment, so I stutter,
Sometimes I will deliberately speak slow
That I want you to know.
Sometimes, when I will feel a stutter is coming on
I'll look for another word, or I'll just yawn,
At my stutter I hope that you don't mock or laugh
And if you do, I hope that your children don't walk your path.
I always try my best to speak proper and correctly
Especially when I speak to anyone directly,
I'm not the President of the United States
I'm someone's child, for goodness sakes.

Randy L. McClave