They told me I was welcome there
One of the biggest things about being a faerie
Outside of the faerie realm,
Lie humans, that don’t have wings.
Most don’t try to venture that far
Because humans like to cut faerie wings off.
Yet, most of us brave the human world
At least every once in a while.
We have to hide our wings
Pretend we’re not a faerie for a while.
Considering that I never had wings before,
I thought I was good at hiding them.
But the more I became aware of them,
The more they seemed to show.
I knew what would happen if I let them show.
I knew of the pain that would follow,
Both emotional and physical.
I talked with another faerie about this,
Because I didn’t want to go through the pain.
They had been with me from day one,
They knew that I was struggling.
And they told me something I would never forget.
“You have always had your wings.
You are just noticing them more.
“You try to hide your wings from the humans
Which is understandable, for sure.
But you don’t seem to see what I see.
“I notice that your wings flap when you let your autistic self show.
The more you show, the more you flap.
But, even when you hide your wings,
Even when you think no one notices,
“Even when you think you’ve hidden yourself,
Your wings still flap a little.
Being autistic is an innate part of you,
Something you can’t completely hide.
“Don’t worry about your wings flapping,
In fact, I would rather see your wings flapping,
Because then I know that you are alive and being yourself.
“I guess what I’m here to say is:
Don’t be afraid of a little flapping.
Being autistic is a part of you,
And I (personally) wouldn’t give that up for the world.”
So to all my fellow autistic faeries,
Or other winged autistic people:
Don’t worry too much about your wings,
And, when safe, don’t forget to flap like the wind.