The energy shifted
Her expression contorted
Pointed finger wagged in my face
Words shot out of her mouth
As I sat confused
Then the magic word
RETARDED
Slowly
Fresh oxygen circulated
I took a deep breath
Explained I’d said the R-word
In reference to
An assbackwards TX educational policy
Not a person
Never would I say it
About a person
Yet
I’d stepped onto
An IED
Invisible Emotional Detonator
I shrank as she
Towered over my
Educated fool’s ignorance
Schooled me that the R-word
Was the bully’s go-to word
Years of parental advocacy
Had finally changed ‘mentally retarded’
To ‘intellectually disabled’
How dare I use the R-word
EVER
Sitting in awe of the
Human explosion
My creative mind
Failed to conjure
A peaceful resolution
An olive branch to
Make this
Less painful
Not all right
Not all equal
Not all better
My apology
Disintegrated
Amongst the flames of her words
I was the umpteenth
Insensitive person
How many more
Would she have to
Clue in
Through verbal attack
To penetrate the
Thick skull of ignorance
The privilege of intellectual
Wellness
Tossing around the R-word
Reminding her of all
The closed doors
The low expectations
The lack of funding
The lack of services
The lack of understanding
The lack of empathy
IF YOU EVER MET MY SON
YOU’D SEE HE’S
THE NICEST GUY
Once she’d stormed away
A sympathetic woman
Beside me
Confessed her use
Of the R-word
Only in reference
To things
Such as
Flame-retardant
Silently I nodded
In agreement
I’d needed a flame retardant