I live in her brain.
I have 20 arms.
I hold stop signs, reverse signs in the spaghetti junctions of her mind.
The secrets of my working one day she might find.
She opens the book.
Now is my time to shine.
She tries to avoid me and keep me locked in her mind.
I make her read slowly, I trick her to reread the same line on repeat. Sometimes she doesn’t even notice! I like to play this trick on her, it amuses me greatly. But wait! What’s that?
The reading ruler is back!
It covers the lines, it ruins the fun,
The score is 1:0, but she has not won.
I need another trick.
I know! With just one flick,
I turn on the lights
I light up the page,
Not the words, the page!
She is filling with rage.
She has to look into the light and find the words.
She looks so intensely it begins to hurt.
Meares-Irlen is his name,
Whilst he’s not got the same fame,
He is my buddy, my partner in crime,
I help his distortions and he helps with mine.
When her eyes get so tired that she can read no more
After only a few pages we have levelled the score.
So onto trick number three,
The English language makes it so easy for me.
There, their and they’re; though, thought and through and threw,
Oh who knew!
The fun I have with each and every word,
The meaning so distorted it’s just so absurd!
She is forced to decode it, letter by letter,
Hoping that one day all this will get better.
And the time, oh the time!
I have so long to play.
For her to read a book takes hours each day!
She sometimes feels sad that she takes so much time
but it really brings such great joy to my life!
Sometimes she shouts at me, she’d like me to leave.
Other times she calls me a gift that allows her to see the world differently.
Our relationship is complex, everchanging but we are in no rush to reach a perfect harmony.
I’ll be in her brain forever.
Gee Roberts
I was diagnosed with dyslexia aged 14. My diagnosis came as a relief, it gave an explanation to my difficulties however it also came as a label which scared me. Writing this creative piece allowed me to personify this label, to consider its impact on my life and to use my sense of humour to build a relationship with it. By using personification, I have been able to express my feelings more easily towards the diagnosis as an external feature, whilst considering its interactions with my mind which will remain there forever. I have also been able to appreciate the talents it has given me and how it makes my mind work in a different way to others. I hope that this piece will increase understanding and bring awareness about some of the difficulties faced by people with dyslexia. Additionally, I hope that it allows others with dyslexia to feel less scared of their diagnosis and see that it is not a limitation to their life but a gift of thinking differently.