Autism

Silence
It surrounds me
Someone talking in the other room
Someone is laughing
But the silence is around me
Crushing me.
I can’t breathe.

I wait a moment, I blink
She’s twelve
He’s seven

I remember the night in the hospital
My sister screaming in pain
Waiting to be born
I heard her cry
Her son had complications
The four words muttered softly
“Your son has autism”
Followed by
In the same blink in time
“I’m sorry”