Tatum Tricarico's
"Dot Two Four is for Inclusion"
"This poem made me smile; the repetition is witty and interesting. I was inspired by the deft use of a difficult form, the pantoum."
-Sheila Black, co-editor of Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability and the Perceptions Writing Judge
"Dot Two Four is for Inclusion"
I wondered just how much I could trust you
Even when no one else came through
I just wanted to fit in
And do exactly what everyone else could do
Even when no one else came through
You told me I’d be included in the retreat
And do exactly what everyone else could do
You planned it to include me, and told me to trust you
You told me I’d be included in the retreat
But I didn’t know just how right you were
You planned it to include me, and told me to trust you
I leaned over to my friend and whispered, “it’s true.”
But I didn’t know how right you were
Because during every day, and after every game
I leaned over to my friend and whispered, “it’s true
This weekend is set up for me. I belong here too.”
Because during every day, and after every game
I just wanted to fit in
This weekend is set up for me. I belong here too
Then I knew just how much I could trust you
Reflection:
My piece is entitled Dot Two Four is for Inclusion and is from a collection I wrote using the Braille alphabet (dot two four is “I”) as a starting point to write poems about being Blind and Disabled. I wrote this piece in order to describe the feeling of being included in a way that I hadn’t expected to be and how wonderful that feeling was. My aim was to convey the importance of inclusion as well as the idea that this should not be a special event, but that it should just be the case for all Disabled people.
I chose to write it as a Pantoum because that style had a specific repetition type and it felt appropriate because I kept playing and replaying the event over in my head, as well as the fact that inclusion is something that should be continued and repeated in this way more broadly. The series of poems that it is from is called “The ABC’s of Blindness” and I wrote it for a class and as a gift to parents of a child who was just born Blind so that they could understand a bit more about what it was like and so the boy had something to connect with as he grew up.
I wanted to submit this piece in particular because it is a powerful representation of what it is like to be a Disabled person in a space that is accommodating. In addition to that, it seemed fitting because the piece, since I gave it to the family, holds a sort of generational connection for me which felt meaningful because the call was for young Disabled writers.
-Tatum Tricarico
Image Description: "Tatum- a young white woman with medium brown hair- standing against a white wall. She is wearing glasses, a yellow tank top, and jeans and is smiling and holding her white cane."