Louis Gibbs

THE PRISONER

 

Bless these innocent souls

We cannot relate to,

Exiled to a world they

Cannot be part of ...

Sentenced at birth

Without cause or trial,

Doomed to a life of

Virtual imprisonment.

 

Subjected to pain

Of insidious nature

By constant assault of

Their body\'s own senses,

How could it be cause

Just knowing a world

Outside that of ours for

Such a cruel sentence?

 

What is this strange realm

That they inhabit ...

Intriguing to us, for

From their ranks come

Gifts of pure genius that

Should earn one parole?

Yet these guiltless condemned

Will never know freedom.

 

For these so imprisoned

There is no escape,

Nor will some know,

In their solitary world,

The simple joy of

Human connection ...

These souls are prisoners

Of the autism spectrum.