There Is A New Voice

There is a New Voice

Some of the joy

has come back to me.

A different voice from within

has walked out of the trenches,

and I have begun to wipe the sweat off my brow.

Our family

has stepped into a new home,

that has deep roots

and a long future.

The small song of hope

rises in me-

the strength of a mother’s love

for a child that is beating the odds.

I have earned this pride

through hours of trainings,

days spent down on the floor

on hands and knees

playing one on one

and praising the simplest task

of one block stacked onto another,

a puzzle piece placed in the right spot.

There are words, so many words

that explode from my son’s mouth.

I smile on the inside knowing

that life is awesome

in its challenges,

knowing that the maps lead us

to new places

that hold the best for us,

the best me I never knew I could be.

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Jennie Linthorst is a therapeutic writing coach and the founder of LifeSPEAKS Poetry Therapy. She works privately with men and women helping them tell their stories and heal, through reading and writing poetry and personal essays. Jennie coaches clients all across the country and around the world via phone, Skype, e-mail, in addition to in person meetings. She is the author of a book of poems, Autism Disrupted: A Mother's Journey of Hope. Her family’s story is captured in the award-winning documentary film, “Autistic-Like: Graham’s Story”.