KNEE BRACE PRESS

A place for stories about chronic illness, disability, mental health, and neurodivergence.

(DIS)ABILITY: A PALINDROME

By

My broken body is lame
I don’t believe those who say
I am more than my mangled frame
The ones who find it easier to maim
I blame
Myself, all the same
Because
I am the twisted wreck I became
Don’t assume the counterclaim
A reality without immense shame
I boldly proclaim
An existence stuck in a freeze-frame
I refuse to play the game
Believing there’s a life to reclaim
That I overcame
Even when my body feels aflame
More than anything
I must remember
There’s no point to reframe
My disability and I are the same

(Now read bottom up)

Contributor

  • A white person with long, blonde hair smiling at the camera. She is wearing a red and white plaid shirt.

    Sarah Steinbacher (she/they) is a disabled nonbinary author, poet, disability advocate, instructor at The Writing Barn, and member of both SCBWI and Storyteller Academy. In 2023, she was named a PB Rising Stars Honorable Mention and a #KidLitZombieWeek winner. Her publication credits include The Dirigible Balloon, Tyger Tyger, Tap into Poetry, Exchange, and upcoming issues of both PaperBound and Paper Teeth Press.