Neil Marcus : His Poem “Disabled Country”

Neil Marcus

Neil Marcus

DISABLED COUNTRY

Poem by Neil Marcus

THE POEM

(Introduction to a Disability History book I am currently reading)

If there were a country called disabled,

I would be from there,

I live disabled culture, eat disabled food,

Make disabled love, cry  disabled tears,

Climb disabled mountains and tell disabled stories.

If there was a country called disabled,

I would say she has immigrants that come to her

From as far back as time remembers.

If there was a country called disabled,

Then I am one of its citizens.

I came here at age 8. I tried to leave.

Was encouraged by doctors to leave.

I tried to surgically remove myself from disabled country

But found myself in the end, staying and living there.

If there was a country called disabled,

I would have to remind myself that I come from there.

I often want to forget.

I would have to remember …to remember.

In my life’s journey

I am making myself

At home in my country.

***

The Poet: Source: Wikipedia

Neil Marcus, born 1954 (New York, actor and playwright active in the development of disability culture, who has reshaped ways of thinking about disability. He developed generalised dystonia when he was eight years old.

According to Carrie Sandhal’s entry in the Encyclopedia of American Disability History, “Marcus was born on January 3, 1954, in White Plains, New York, but spent his childhood in Ojai, California. He is the youngest of five children born to a secular Jewish family. Marcus’s family life was full of art; his mother was a musician and his father a filmmaker. His family regularly hosted visiting artists. Marcus was an active child who loved the outdoors and physical activity, qualities that would continue even after the age of eight, when his dystonia manifested itself. His onset of dystonia was painful and disorienting, as diagnosis was elusive and a cure impossible. Marcus struggled with depression throughout his adolescence and began writing in his journal, chronicling his frustrations and joys as a disabled person. He credits his experiences in co-counseling, which he began at age 14, with pulling him out of his depression and spawning his performance aesthetic. Co-counseling involves peer-to-peer, confidential counseling that helps the participants discover themselves and deal with their emotions. Marcus has discussed his relationship with audiences as a form of co-counseling in which he and they share experiences on a journey of discovering self and other.”

Neil Marcus 
Performance Artist (Oral History transcript)

“Disability is an art — an ingenious way to live,” Neil Marcus writes. This award-winning playwright, actor, poet, and performance artist earned national acclaim when he crafted his experiences as a man living with dystonia, a severe neurological disorder, into a powerful staged work. Storm Reading, first produced in the late eighties, challenged audiences to re-evaluate conventional ideas about disability and set a standard for performing artists with disabilities. Voted one of Los Angeles’ top ten plays of 1993, it enjoyed a nearly decade-long run. Since then, Marcus’ passionate stance toward life has infused his artistic choices. Believing that “life is a performance,” he has cast his creative net wide, participating in a range of diverse projects.