Adam is working on his stuttering in Middle School. He wrote this poem about stuttering as an assignment.

Stuttering Poem

by: A.P., age 12

Stuttering has its own evil twin,
and nervousness is one twin's snack.
The times he is hungry, it's harder to win,
harder to contain in a sack.

But the good twin is good.
He will be a bit tough.
When you're calm, it is easy,
A bit nervous, he's rough.

And it frustrates me
when I try and try
but the evil twin will never let me.
It's blocked and sometimes who knows why.

Out there are a few ways to capture the twin
using hammers and cages and keys
like stretching and canceling and easy onset
these hammers are called strategies.

It overjoys me when I do get it right.
When I don't, it just makes me try more
'cause stuttering is beatable, it's possible to win
and when I do, my spirits just soar.


added with permission May 28, 2003