The Tall Mentally Disabled Woman Poem by Raj Dronamraju

The tall mentally disabled woman greets the children coming home from school
She scares them by hiding behind trees and jumping out suddenly and saying hi

The tall mentally disabled woman stands at the end of her driveway and shakes the gate
Then quietly stares at people and cars

The tall mentally disabled woman is six feet two inches and weighs 250 pounds
Wears the same purple housedress often with or without a bathrobe
Has a short homemade inmate's haircut that bunches together

Overprotective parents chatter about chimney fires and nonexistent curfews and loose swimming pool security (Like the time the Bridges came over and brought with them a bottle of Scotch)

"I don't have to go to school"
The climbers of Bitter Mountain find the tall mentally disabled woman tracing their steps like a Yeti
But never choking on their provisions of bile

Concentrating within limits
The tall mentally disabled woman pats the head of a neighborhood dog
Confers to it the mystery of her stunted thoughts